


Stuck With You

by TheLetterY



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuban Lance (Voltron), Domestic Fluff, Drabble Collection, F/M, Horrible jokes were used, Japanese Keith (Voltron), M/M, Pining Keith at some point, Pining Lance (Voltron), Randomness, Shiro (Voltron) is a Mess, broganes, rommates au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 16:20:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12369483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLetterY/pseuds/TheLetterY
Summary: Lance was broke, jobless and had trouble paying the rent no thanks to his supposed roommate. And when Keith finally shows up, Lance was sure that they would never get along.Now Lance has to deal with the unexpected crush he has for his roommate, who for some reason can't take an obvious hint.





	1. Chapter 1: Moving in

Chapter 1:Moving in  


  


His new roommate was a week late. Lance had dismissed the idea of the pending deadline for the rent at that time, there was still three (or was that two?) weeks left anyways. He thought a few more days of having the place to himself didn’t seem that bad. Besides, Pidge and Hunk had constantly came over to his place to hang out, so loneliness was never really a problem. Although, he had to blame them for the many sleepless nights they had for playing video games till dawn had risen.  


It wasn’t until the landlord called about the rent that was due, not three weeks, but three _days_ from then that Lance had started to panic. Lance was broke basically, he was struggling already with daily necessities, there are even times where he had to skip dinner just to save a few bucks for the onslaught of the next day. He currently has about three part-time jobs and a soon to be real job if the manager would just contact him already! So he basically would become homeless if his soon-to-be-roommate doesn’t show up and help pay the other half of the rent.  


By the time the three day time limit was up, Lance was cursing every living fibre of his soon-to-be-roommate. In the end, Lance had barely managed to scrap up enough money to pay the rent, not to mention that his bank account was currently as empty as his grumbling stomach. To say that he wasn’t mad at his soon-to-be-roommate would be an understatement, he was absolutely furious!  


The next day he had found himself at a nearby cafe with Pidge and Hunk, eating soggy fries and cold frenchtoast was the best meal he has had in a while. And while he gobbled his food, Hunk -that sweetheart- offered to pay for his meal, given that he teaches him his abuelita’s recipe for brownies.  


“Dude, seriously. Did you even eat dinner last night?” Pidge questions as she raises a questioning eyebrow when he orders himself a stack of pancakes with extra syrup, she makes a face at the extra load of sweetness.  


Hunk and Pidge, Lance had met them in high school and the trio had just stuck together then. Pidge is two years younger than Hunk and Lance, a genius who entered the same grade as them and still managed to score higher than any of them could-well, for Lance anyway, Hunk was also a genius. She hated it when people would call her by her birth name and would rather they call her Pidge than Katie. Hunk was not only a genius in academic but in culinary too, he would make the best muffins that Lance and Pidge would gobble up in less than a minute. Also, he is a sweetheart.  


“To answer that question, you’re gonna have ta buy me coffee after this,” Lance tells her before stuffing his face with a chunk of syrup loaded pancake, the syrup dripping from the corners of his mouth.  


“I’ll take that as a no then,” she says with a shake to her head, her nose doing that scrunching thing it does when she disagrees with something. “Do Hunk and I have to make slide shows for you about nutrition? Again?” She waves her stirring spoon around, flicking little drops of coffee on to the table.  


Lance grimaced at the thought, a haunting memory of very well detailed explanations of the digestive system with tabled functions and definitions pop into his mind. He doesn’t even know how his friends even conjured up the time to make these slide shows. And don’t even get him started on the extra care they put into the gastritis slide. They had like a whole page dedicated to the definition, images included, the factors and cons on one page and that wasn’t even the end of it! The symptoms page even had a video linked on to it!  


His friends were the kind of people who took caring for someone to a whole new different level, they were beautiful that way.  


“Please no slides,” he says sheepishly while scratching the back of his head, pancake half eaten and syrup still dripping. “Honestly, I wouldn’t be so broke right now if it weren’t for my roommate who is currently MIA,” his tone is flat when he mentions the mysterious roommate, still salty about the rent.  


“Where is he anyway?” Hunk questions because unlike Pidge, he shows that he cares and not bite him with sarcasm.  


“That’s the problem. I don’t know. I can’t even contact the dude!” He huffs out, exasperate.  


Pidge’s glasses shone. “Do you think he got abducted by aliens?”  


“Probably being dissected as we speak,” Lance supplies.  


“Can we not talk about this when we’re eating?” Hunk chides, giving them a look of disappointment.  


Lance and Pidge both continue theorizing about the possibilities of Lance’s missing roommate, Hunk chiming in every once in a while when the topic got too overboard. It was a normal Saturday for them, sunny breeze, cloudless skies and a whole day filled with potential. The thought of overpriced rents and mysterious roommates slowly disappearing from his mind as the conversation went on.

* * *

  


He’s staring at a pile of boxes stacked up at his front door, boxes with labels on them, varying from clothes to paints to books. Lance squeezes his way in through the doorway, narrowly avoiding toppling the stack of boxes. A questioning brow is raised when he lays his eyes on the back of someone looking through the contents of the boxes, headphones plugged in and blasting some pop song he can’t make out. Lance concludes that the dude doesn’t even know that he was even existing in the same room as him and casually strolls over to the guy’s side to tap him on the shoulder.  


The guy is startled by the sudden tap on his shoulder and jumps a bit in surprise as he whips his head in Lance’s direction. Lance surpasses the urge to gape at the mysterious stranger that could very well be his new roommate, because damn the guy’s hot. Then he remembers that he’s broke and it’s all this guy’s fault.  


“Hi, the name’s Lance. And you owe me an explanation as well as money,” because his mama taught him manners before anything else. Introductions first, she would say. You are a man of manners like I raised you to be, so pummel the guy afterwards, she tells him with a stern look as 7 year old him nodded obediently. Those were the good days.  


His hot new roommate simply stares at him, giving him a long and tantalizing look before taking off his headphones. “What?”  


Lance groans loudly and sauntered clumsily on to the couch, his face flat on one of the couch pillows. He peeks at his roommate, snorting when he finally notices the mullet. His roommate merely continues studying him, giving him a weird look as Lance lazily sits up.  


“So, you gonna tell me your name anytime soon or should I just call ya mullet? By the way, in case you haven’t heard, the name’s _Lance_ ” he says, legs crossed and hugging his favourite pillow. “Lance with an L.”  


His roommate seems to consider this for awhile, a displeased frown marrying his features as he narrows his eyes threateningly at the grinning man covered in blue on the couch. He didn’t seem to like the new nickname. “Keith,” he says and returns to his unpacked boxes, the frown never leaving his features.  


“Keith,” Lance says to test the name on his tongue before nodding and propping and arm behind the couch to watch Keith unpack.  


He hears a large sigh coming from Keith and he raises a brow in question when he turns to glare at him.  


“Can I help you?!” He bites out rather viciously.  


Lance being Lance was unaffected by said glare and continues staring. “Need help with those?” He offers, gesturing to the many strewn boxes around their living room.  


Keith only blinks and shakes his head in refusal. “I have a system,” he tells him and lifts up two boxes with ease. He then retreats to the unused room and reappears again without the boxes.  


“System,” Lance repeats, slightly interested.  


“Yes, system. A system in which you don’t touch my stuff and mind your own business!” He huffs out grumpily and hauls two more boxes into his room and returning to the living room while stomping.  


“Someone’s being a grumpy pants,” Lance mutters with a pout and Keith turns to face him.  


“I’ll show you grumpy if you don’t shut up,“ he tells him pointedly and as Lance was about to refute, his phone rang. His ring tone, Despacito, blaring loudly as Keith cringes and backs away like he’s offended.  


“Uno momento, señor Keith,” he says and silences the phone by picking it up. “Hola? Allura? I got the job?” He’s practically beaming, smiling like an idiot as Keith watches him from a safe distance. “You won’t regret it. When do I start?” His face hurt from smiling so much.  


Keith shakes his head, a silent smile of his own as he continues lunging boxes into his room. Lance finishes his phone call and is now all over the place, like literally. He’s bouncing around all laughs and smiles and Keith has to try his very hardest not to run into him with his heavy baggage. That is until Lance runs up to him and squashes him into a bear hug, making Keith choke on his spit, the boxes falling on to the floor with a loud thud.  


“Lance, p-personal space! I need personal space!” He yells in a panic voice, his face heating up.  


“You even said my name for the first time! I could cry Keith, I’m just so happy!” He exclaims and Keith has to keep himself from spontaneously combusting. 

* * *

  


Keith stares at the many boxes piled up against his wall, sighing when he realizes how much unpacking he had to once he moved into his new home. His coffee sat on his desk, steam rising up from it while the coffee scent diffuses throughout his room. He is staring at his bare room now, void of any proof that he was living here, looking more spacious. Sunlight streamed through the blinds, his eyes squinting ever so slightly at the brightness the evening sun brought. He would be leaving tomorrow.  


He wasn't surprised of his parents' reaction when he told them he was planing to move out. They weren't as unresponsive as Keith had thought, but still not biased with his announcement all the same. He never felt like he belonged in that household. They were either trying too hard or not trying at all, his brother was the only one that understood. He always had.  


He guessed that was what being adopted felt like, never belonging. The person closet could also feel so very far away sometimes.  


A yawn escapes his lips and he finishes the coffee in one swing before making sure he doesn't forget anything else to pack.  


After all, he wasn't planning on returning anytime soon, or at all for the matter. 

* * *

  


Keith's first impression of his roommate was that he was good looking. He had natural boyish good looks, cappucino brown hair and eyes so blue he thought he might drown in them. Then he opened his mouth and Keith had to momentarily pause and question himself if he had gone deaf or not, cause he could not hear a thing his roommate was saying. Then he realises that he had his headphones on and now he just feels stupid.  


Awkward first meeting aside, he didn't think his roommate-Lance is his name-would just straight on give him a hug on their first meeting. Had the guy never heard of stranger danger?  


Keith thinks that living here might actually be better than his previous home. He might actually have a place to call home.


	2. New roommate, new life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Ya know Keith, if we're gonna be living together under the same roof, you're gonna have to be nicer."
> 
> When Keith and Lance try getting along...or at least Lance is trying.

  


Chapter 2: New rommate, new life

  


It has already been a week since Keith moved in and Lance was pretty sure that his roommate was planing to make the whole house his canvas. Just two days ago he had asked Lance whether he wanted to see a sunset in his room. Lance, utterly confused and in a hurry to get to work simply replied with a “Why not?” and returned to literally find a sunset in his room. Keith had actually taken the time to paint a sunset mural in his room and Lance couldn’t be more touched. The best part was that it wasn’t the kind of sunset you see on mountain tops, but the kind of sunset that could be seen by the seashore.  


“A compensation for the rent,” Keith had said, red paint covering the side of his face and some splashes of paint on his shirt.  


Lance being Lance had ruined the moment when he commented, “It looks more like a sunrise than a sunset.”  


And Keith had replied with, “Whatever makes you sleep at night,” and retreated to clean himself up while Lance prepared dinner. 

* * *

  


Keith had this red couch that arrived the second day after he moved in. It was a love seat that could _obviously_ occupy two people, but as Lance approached it and questioned him about the couch, Keith had ran up and sprawled himself on to it.  


“My couch,” he had hissed and Lance decided it was best he didn’t fight him about it and turned to his comfy bean bag instead. 

* * *

  


Today was an exceptionally slow day for them, and they both had spent it in the living room. Keith was sketching something with his headphones on, laying on his red couch with his legs propped up on to one of the arm rest. Lance was messing around with his phone, looking through social media and scrolling through funny websites. Both minded their own business, it was more peaceful that way, less arguing.  


“Hey Keith/Lance, could you go grab me a glass of water-” they both paused and looked at each other, one with narrowed eyes and one with a challenging brow raised.  


“I spoke first!” They both say simultaneously, now glaring at each other.  


“Keith.”  


“Lance.”  


Now they’re both aggresively playing rock-paper-scissors, shouting the namesake of the game repeatedly until Keith comes out victorious. Keith smirks in triumph as Lance, that overdramatic dork, groans loudly and stalks over to the kitchen to get Keith a glass of water. Keith returns to his sketching as Lance soon returns with his glass of water.  


“Ya know Keith, if we’re gonna be living together under the same roof, you’re gonna have to-” he pauses mid-sentence and looks around the room as if searching for something. He then comes up with a mini white board.  


Keith raises an eyebrow in question. “That’s mine,” he says, pointing to the mini white board.  


Lance waves him off and sits crossed-legged infront of him, steals a marker from him and starts doodling. Keith watches as he doodles little round heads with faces on them. He also notices how Lance sticks his tongue out when he focuses on something and couldn’t help but add that to his mental list of Lance traits. Keith watches Lance doodle a bit more, his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.  


“What’s that?” He finally asks him, pointing at one of the doodles.  


“This-” Lance gestures to the doodle, “-is you. And this-” he gestures to the other doodle, “-is me,” he says with finality and a proud smile.  


True enough that there was a little doodle of a frowning Keith and a smiling Lance, both being surrounded by a square-like structure, a triangular structure on top of the square-like one, probably an attempt of a poorly drawn house, he muses. Still confused as to why Lance drew this, he tilts his head as an indication for him to continue.  


“Well, if we’re gonna be living under the same roof then you’re-” he erases the doodle Keith’s frown and draws a smile in place. “-you’re gonna have to be nicer,” Lance tells him with a firm nod, a look of satisfication on his face.  


Keith scowls at the doodle, because the smile doodle Keith had was just too overbearing.  


Keith finds the same doodle nailed on to their front door the next day and couldn’t help but question Lance about it once he got back from work, smelling like flowers and all.  


“Oh, I took it to Pidge yesterday and left her to do her little gremlin magic so that the drawing won’t get rubbed of on contact,” he tells him swiftly like it’s the most normal thing.  


“Pidge?” He says in a questioning tone and Lance makes an ‘o’ with his mouth.  


“That’s right, you haven’t met my BFFs’” Lance says more to himself than to Keith and Keith just shrugs and tells Lance to remove the thing. Lance ignores him of course. 

* * *

  


“We need house rules,” Keith declares to him one fine morning and Lance, still drowsy from sleep, could only stare at his roommate’s bedhead.  


“So make some,” he replies nonchalantly with a shrug, accompanied by a yawn. “Man, I am tired,” he murmurs and sits by the dining table. Keith sits opposite from him, a paper and pen in his grasp and a frown marrying his features.  


“Lately my jasmine tea has been decreasing in quantity. Do you have anything to do with it?” He questions, suspicious gaze and all.  


Lance blinks, Keith’s words slowly processing in his mind as he turns a guilty look away and coughs into his fist. “Maybe.”  


The suspicious gaze shifts to a glare. “No one touches my calming tea.”  


Lance, with his hands raised in a surrendering pose finally gives in. “Fine, let’s set some freakin’ house rules,” he grumbles and Keith smiles in victory. 

* * *

  


“Stuff?” Lance reads from the list of things Keith had given him. The list only consisting of paint, milk and stuff. What got him stuck was the ‘stuff’ written in neat cursive writing on the list, just below the word ‘milk’.  


Lance is standing in the middle of aisle 10, where the cereals are kept. He is confused, hungry and utterly frustrated. Here he is, standing in the middle of a grocery shop just two blocks down from where they lived, staring at a list of things Keith wrote down like it was the world’s hardest puzzle. He just wants to get the groceries done.  


He makes up his mind to call just call Keith and save him the brain storming. Because A)paint could define any paint, like paint for murals, acrylic paint, watercolours, etcetera. B) He didn’t know what kind of milk Keith liked, low fat, soy? It could be anything. C) Does he even need to elaborate on ‘stuff’?  


Keith picks up on the 5th ring, his voice sounding gruff and slurry like he’s just woken up, probably from a nap. “ _Yesh_?” he replies sloppily and Lance fights back the urge to laugh at how child-like Keith sounded.  


“Mind elaborating your nonspecific grocery list, Keith? I mean, ‘stuff’? Seriously? What does that even mean?” He questions as stern as he can get while talking to a half-asleep Keith who is also too adorable for his own good.  


There is silence on the other end of the line and Lance frowns. “Keith! Don’t fall asleep on me!”  


“ _Huh? Oh, you’re still there,_ ” he says in between a yawn. “ _Ya know…stuff means…stuff,_ ” he says and hangs up like the matter has been solved.  


Lance stares at his phone, groans and regrets ever volunteering to do the groceries. 

* * *

  


Lance, like the ‘good roomate’ he is, finds himself in Keith’s room when he was cleaning the house. At first it was out of curiosity, and then he finds out that his roommate is a conspiracy freak. The mural on Keith’s wall, the scenery of a forest and a shadowy image of Big Foot. Keith’s mat even had Big Foot foot print on it.  


Lance swears that he doesn’t find his roommate cute. He then finds a huge stuffed hippo on Keith’s bed, its head tilted from the weight and staring at Lance with those beady eyes.  


Lance’s roommate was fucking adorable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry Lance you're adorable too.


	3. Onii-chan is always watching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Oh yeah, guess what I found out today?"
> 
> "What?"
> 
> "Apperantly, my boss has the hots for your brother."
> 
> When Keith regrets letting his brother and roommate meet.

Chapter 3: Onii-chan is always watching  


  


There is a firm knock on the door and Lance tells Keith to go get it unless he wants to deal with a broken washing machine. Keith,in the middle of a sketch drags himself off the comforts of his couch and trudges over to unlock the front door, he’s yawning loudly once he reaches it and pulls the doorknob open. He slams it close immediatly and goes back to sketching on his couch.  


A confused Lance emerges from the laundry room. “Who was that?”  


“No one,” came Keith’s monotoned voice as Lance huffs a breath and stomps over to the door to yank it open.  


Standing six feet tall with his well known white tuft of hair and prosthetic arm, Lance is greeted by the sight of his landlord, Takashi Shirogane. Mr. Shirogane, or Shiro, had the appearance of some badass Marvel character with a tragic background story. As intimidating as he may seem though, he was actually a really nice guy, he reminded Lance of a dad, not specifically his dad but a dad _dad_.  


“Shiro? I thought this month’s rent was due two weeks from now?” Lance, still surprised by the visit from the landlord himself questions him.  


Shiro smiles kindly. “Hello, Lance. And no, I’m not here for the rent,” he glares over Lance’s shoulder, towards an innocent looking Keith with a spot on surprised look on his face.  


“ _Onii-chan_?” He speaks, faking a small gasp.  


Shiro opens his mouth to say something, but was immediately cut off by Lance’s dramatic gasp. “Hold the fucking phone! You’re Japanese?!” He practically yells to Keith.  


“What, Keith _Kogane_ isn’t Japanese enough for you?” he remarks with a frown.  


Lance being the overdramatic one, like always, widely gestures his speech as he he talks. “You never told me your last name!” He practically yells at Keith, his arms flailing and nearly hitting Shiro on the nose.  


Keith gives him a deadpanned stare. “You never asked,” he says and Shiro finally cuts in just as Lance was about to open his mouth and argue with his roommate.  


“You look like you’ve settled in,” he muses and Keith gives him that angry pout-glare combination he uses when he’s talking with him.  


“ _Urusai, a-aniki_ ,” he grumbles and Shiro grins.  


“ _Mou ‘onii-chan’ wo yondenai?_ ” he says, a fake hurt look replacing his amused one.  


“No,” he says almost too quickly and returns to his sketch. Shiro laughs.  


Lance, suddenly feeling very awkward, decides to finally offer Shiro to come in and asks him if he wanted anything to drink. “Water,” is what he replies him with and Lance goes to get it and leaves the to brothers to catch up, which results in angry shouting in Japanese from Keith.  


He returns with the glass of water and places it on the cheap coffee table Lance got from a garage sale. “Here’s your water,” he says and Shiro thanks him. “You sure you don’t want anything else? We have tea.”  


“Not my calming tea!” Keith hisses and Lance rolls his eyes.  


“Keith, he’s a guest. And we, as the humble hosts, have to serve him,” he replies and Keith scrunches his nose in disgust.  


“Serve Shiro?” Keith says like it’s the most offensive thing Lance has said to him, yet.  


“Hey!” Shiro says, offended. Lance laughs.  


“Seriously though Keith, I had no idea you guys were related,” he tells them honestly.  


“Adopted,” they both say simultaneously like it’s been rehearsed or done many times in the past before. This had Lance thinking, cause both their expresions are different from the tone of their voice, one sounding stiffer than the other, more uncomfortable. He decides to leave it for another day. Besides, he and Keith are only at that tolerable roommate stage, they weren’t that close.  


“By the way, doesn’t ’ _onii-chan_ ’ already mean big brother? Why change it to ’ _aniki_ ’?” he says to lighten the mood a bit. It does, cause Keith is sending him a greatful look. “Actually, both of them mean big brother, right? I only know cause of anime.”  


Keith’s eyes narrowed. “Not telling,” he grumbles.  


This brings a laugh from Shiro. “Apparently, Keith here is only calling me ’ _aniki_ ’ to sound mature,” he muses, Keith rolling his eyes and flicking eraser dust towards him.  


Shiro’s short visit ends when he announces that he has more things to do and only stopped by to check on Keith. He even secretly tells Keith that he was glad that he and Lance were getting along just fine when Lance’s back was turned towards them. Keith flushes and shoves Shiro out the door with an angry huff and slams it shut, not even telling him Good Bye. Shiro’s laughter could be heard through their wooden door.  


Lance raises a confused eyebrow at the flustered Keith only to further worsen his already flustered state. Keith shoves a pillow in Lance’s face and the subject was never brought up again. 

* * *

  


Lance works in a flower shop called Altea. Its interior consisted of a soft pestle blue, the rest of the shop was covered in different shades of pink. Flowers of different colour schemas pop out for attention against the cherry blossom pink walls, a neat desks for bouquet wrapping is placed beside the register, wrapping paper of all kinds neatly arranged in colour coordination.  


Lance had fallen in love with this place when he first laid eyes on it, it was a quaint little flower shop at the end of the street from where his last part-time job was. It had an aura of friendliness that just attracted people to it, whether it be for looking around the shop or buying a bouquet for a special someone. Lance had been thrilled when he saw a sign posted up on the window that said ‘Help Wanted’ in neat capitalized letters. He thought, ‘sign me up!’ And here he was now, working as a cashier at this little flower shop.  


The register is where Lance works, being able to see customers with smiles of all kinds on their faces when he hands over their beautifully wrapped bouquets was what made him love his job. His boss, Allura, a pretty lady with the grace of a princess had even mentioned how good he was at socializing with people at the counter, ‘the perfect job for him’ she had said and he had given her a sheepish laugh.  


Lance was mentally listing a list of groceries to buy for dinner when Shiro enters the shop. He had a anticipated look on his face when he entered, Lance had to stop to wonder what a guy like Shiro would be doing in a flower shop, all exited and child-like. Lance had to stare at him for a few minutes before he finally took notice of him, he was even drumming his fingers against the counter to get his attention! What had gotten this guy into such a daze?!  


“Shiro,” Lance greets with the smile he reserves for customers. “Seen anything you like yet?”  


“S-seen? Who? Me?” He says, flustered and Lance sends him a questioning look. He calms down after clearing his throat and apologizing. “Sorry. Hi Lance, good to see you again,” he says stiffly, a bit sheepishly too.  


“Buying flowers for someone?” Lance questions, a teasing smirk making its way up his face.  


“N-no,” he replies and Lance could hear the defensive tone in his voice. “Just want to brighten up the office…” he mumbles nervously.  


Lance stares at him and nods slowly, totally (not) believing him. “Well, if you do want to buy some then I’m your man. So, what cha’ looking for?”  


Shiro blinks. “Juniberries,” he mumbles and Lance would call out on his blush but he was _nice_. Unlike Keith.  


“Oh, those. Well, they’re a one of a kind and I’m not really sure where there’re kept…do you mind if I go call a co-worker over?”  


“Sure,” he says and Lance wonders how these two brother’s could be so different in personality.  


Lance finds Allura in the back room where the freezers are and where extra flowers are kept. He finds her moving some tulips into a freezer and closing it shut with a huff before finally noticing him. She gives him a smile and he flashes her one of his own in greeting.  


“Customer?” She questions, a delicate eyebrow raised and starts trimming thorns off some roses.  


“Eeup,” Lance says, popping the ‘p’ and stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Someone I know too.”  


“Someone you know? This I got to hear,” she says, a curious glint in her eyes.  


“Yeah…well, he’s my roommate’s brother, also my landlord,” he says, recalling the time he found out, which was probably a week ago.  


Allura nods for him to continue, her eyebrows scrunched in concentration as she works.  


“You know who he reminds of?”  


“Who?”  


“The Winter Soldier,” he says and she snorts a laugh. “He even has a prosthetic arm and all.”  


Allura is nodding and laughing now, her white hair bobbing along as she laughs. “I would like to meet him.”  


“Sure, I mean you guys would make a great coup- I mean make great friends,” he laughs sheepishly as she gives him a questioning glare.  


“Are you setting me up?” She seethes.  


“Whaaa? Noooooo, I would never,” he laughs nervously and looks away, guilty. “Buuuuuut, if you _are_ interested then his name is Shiro.”  


Lance doesn’t know what happened, but the next thing he knew was that Allura had nearly cut off all the rose heads with her _very_ sharp scissors.  


“SHIRO?!” She says almost hysterical and Lance had to take three steps back. “T-Ta-Ta-Takashi Shirogane?”  


“You…seem to know him,” he says, uneasy and fearing for his life.  


“My apologies, Lance. I got over excited,” she says sheepishly and it was the most adorable thing Lance has ever seen, next to Keith’s sleeping face…not that he’ll admit it to Keith though.  


“Well, he’s looking for some Juniberries. So, go get em’ Allura!” He cheers and she shushes him.  


“Ju-juniberries huh…” she’s smiling now and Lance could tell when a girl is in love. “How-how do I look?”  


“Like a princess,” he winks and she smiles before walking out the back room. “Oh, Allura!” He calls and she pauses. “Enjoy your beef,“ he says and starts laughing hysterically as Allura mutters something about cutting his pay. 

* * *

  


The most hysterical thing happened when Lance returned home that day. It started when he came through their front door, his shoes soaked through from the rain and his hair swept to the side. He spots Keith coming out from the hallway that leads to their rooms and he greets him. Keith pauses and stares at him, blinks and stalks over to the kitchen.  


“You’re soaking wet,” he mutters under his breath and Lance laughs.  


“No umbrella,” he says, wondering why Keith wouldn’t look him in the eye. “Besides, I like the rain.”  


“Huh…” he hums and stalks back into the living room with a two glasses of water, the warm one for Lance.  


“You do care,” Lance says with a grin while Keith mutters a ‘whatever’ and walks over to his couch, taking a gulp of water as he went.  


“Oh yeah, guess what I found out today?” He asks as he takes off his shoes and catches the towel Keith throws at him.  


“What?” He questions, looking at Lance through the rim of the glass cup.  


“Apparently, my boss has the hots for your brother,” was the key sentence to making Keith choke on water.  


Lance panics. “Oh my god, Keith! Dude! Like drink slower! Shit, what should I do? The heimlich? Hold on buddy, I’ll save you!” he says and tries attempting the heimlich maneuver on Keith as the raven head tries his very best to push him away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apperantly, exams are around the corner and this is what I'm doing.


	4. Conquering socializing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "This better be an emergency or you're facing an existential crisis, cause god dammit Keith, it's freaking three in the morning!"
> 
> " _Shiro, my roommate said I'm adorable, what should I do?_ "
> 
> "Keith, that's called a compliment, it's a positive sign that he doesn't hate living with you."
> 
> " _He said I was adorable in a good way Shiro, what does that even mean?_ "
> 
> "Alright, maybe it's not as complicated as you make it out to be, maybe it just means what it means."
> 
> " _He said he liked me! What does that mean?!_ "
> 
> In which Keith is facing an existential crisis.

Chapter 4: Conquering socializing  


  


"Hey, Keith. Keith? Keeeeith."  


"Yes, Lance," he says through gritted teeth, a big fat blob of blue paint splashed on to a painting he was working on for the past week, the irony.  


"Is it alright if I have friends over this Friday? Ya know, friends as in people you socialize with for companionship? It's healthy Keith, you should try socializing...don't give me that look," Lance says with a frown, staring at Keith's face who had instantly morphed from annoyed to down right earth-shattering at the mention of 'socializing'.  


"Is this that Pidge person you mentioned?" He questions incredulous. "And that other guy, Hunk?"  


"Yup, they're beautiful people and you're gonna love them," Lance beams and resumes to whatever he was doing.  


That was pretty much how everything started. Lance didn't know if he regretted informing Keith about his friends sudden intrusion or even inviting his friends over at all, cause the next few days of interaction with Keith could definitely be deemed weird. As weird as Keith could get, Lance didn't think having him socialize would be his breaking point.  


Lance would come home to Keith sitting on the couch and staring into thin air. And as if on cue when Lance entered, his head would immediatly snap to his direction. He would stare at him for a full three minutes, looking as if he had something to say before making a bee-line towards his room in records time, his face flustrered and all. Lance didn't think that would be the end of it, but it wasn't. He caught Keith talking to the mirror one time and it sounded like he was practicing how to introduce himself to someone. It would have been hilarious if it weren't already adorable.  


Lance decides to ease he's roommate of his worries, as much as he can anyway. So he confronts Keith on the matter Thursday night.  


"Hey man, you've been...tense these few days," he stars of slowly, watching for any signs of emotion on Keith's face.  


"Define tense..." he replies, just as cautious.  


"Well, you know...like talking to yourself or something related..." he trails of when he notices Keith's eyes widening, the night sky that was his eyes gleaming ever so innocently in shock. "W-wait, it's not weird! In a way...it's adorable?" He mumbles, suddenly very aware of Keith's every action.  


"A-adorable...?" He chokes out, a slow blush rising up his face.  


"In-in a good way!" Lance tries to clarify, but honestly he doesn't even know what he's saying is even making any sense anymore.  


"What does that mean?" Keith questions, trying his hardest to keep his gaze away from the source of his embarrassment.  


"You're adorable in a good way?" He tells him and Keith blinks in confusion before scoffing and bursting into small fits of laughter. Lance's shoulders drop in relief at the sound of it and he grins at him before taking a seat on the couch opposite from Keith. "So what's up with the sudden change of behaviour?"  


Keith cringes and avoids his eyes, sighing loudly when he realizes that he wasn't going to be getting out of this anytime soon. "Lance, you know I'm socially awkward."  


"Yes, and I'm a victim to it too," he says and earns a glare from the raven head seated across from him. "Continue," he says with a gesture and a sheepish smile.  


"I'm afraid of making a bad first impression," he tells him and Lance blinks in anticipation before realizing that that was it.  


"Keith, buddy. You don't have to try to make a good first impression. Just be yourself! I mean, I like you!" He says before his own words slowly processed into his mind. Keith seemed to have to same reaction as well, cause his eyes are wide in shock again, the blush creeping up his neck and his eyes looking anywhere but at Lance. "K-Keith?"  


Keith jumps at the call of his name and he is on his feet now, eyes still roaming the place and not making any eye contact at all. "Th-thanks for the pep talk! I'll be in my room now," he announces before taking off, leaving Lance to wonder whether or not to roll around and scream into a pillow or just not ever talk to Keith again to save him the embarrassment. 

* * *

  


Shiro blinks blurrily, the sound of his default ring tone blarring loudly, its shrill sound making his headache worse. He groans loudly and flips over to the bedside table to identify the source of his disturbance. 'KEITH' is writen in big bold letters, the light on his phone glaring angrily at him through the darkness of his room.  


He sighs when he sees the time written on his phone 3.31 in the morning and he drags a hand through his hair before picking up the call. "This better be an emergency or you're facing an existential crisis, cause god dammit Keith, it's freaking three in the morning!"  


" _Shiro, my roommate said I'm adorable, what should I do?_ " came Keith's panicked voice, he almost sounded hysterical and Shiro doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.  


"Keith," he starts of slowly as not startle to the guy. "That's called a compliment, it's a positive sign that he doesn't hate living with you," he tells him pointedly and hears him take a shaky breath.  


" _He said I was adorable in a good way Shiro, what does that even mean?_ " Shiro wanted oh so badly to go back to sleep.  


"Alright, maybe it's not as complicated as you make it out to be, maybe it just means what it means," he tries reasoning with his clearly confused and too innocent for this world brother. He could already feel the migraine kicking in.  


" _He said he liked me! What does that mean?!_ " He sounds hysterical now and Shiro chooses not to call out on it for his brother's decreasing sanity.  


"Um...it means what it means?" He says slowly and then, "Keith, it's almost four in the morning, we'll talk about it tomorrow...or at least sometime today. So try hanging on to your sanity by then alright?" He says and he can hear Keith finally calming down.  


" _A-alright,_ " he says and Shiro smiles.  


"Try to get some sleep, yeah?"  


" _Okay...thanks Shiro,_ " he could practically hear the greatful smile in his voice.  


"Anytime, Keith..." he then hangs up and face plants himself on to the pillows, snoring loudly in records time. 

* * *

  


The next morning went relatively well, that was what Keith thought anyway. He couldn't get a wink of sleep last and he was hoping that maybe getting a heads start of the day could get him to avoid any necessary interaction with Lance, that was what Keith thought anyway. He was the first to use the bathroom this time and he thought that everything would be fine and he wouldn't run in to Lance and that he was still asleep, that was what Keith thought anyway.  


He meets Lance on the way out of the bathroom and had to stop at the surprised squeak Lance let out. They both greet each other awkwardly and Keith had to hide his cringe when Lance asked of he slept well last night.  


"Sure did," he mumbles and tells Lance that he was going to prepare breakfast. He swears that he could hear Lance hit his head against the doorframe and scolding himself for that awkward exchange.  


Keith sighs, it was going to be a long day today. 

* * *

  


"Hey, Keith?" Lance calls from his place on the couch once he spots Keith coming out from the laundry room with a basket of clothes.  


"Yeah?" He responds while making himself busy by ruffling through their clothes, just so that he doesn't need to make eye contact.  


"This is weird," he says as he stands from the couch and approaches Keith.  


Keith panics when he feels Lance approaching and makes the mistake of glancing up and and meeting his gaze. "Weird how?" He questions once he looks away from him.  


"That we're not talking...wait, let me rephrase that. It's weird that we're not _arguing,_ " Lance replies and takes the basket off Keith's hands and places it on the floor. He turns back to Keith, eyebrow raised in question. "Is this your social awkward skills at play...again?"  


Keith gives him a pointed glare. "You're never going to let that go are you?"  


"Maaaaybe," he responds with a cat like grin.  


"So what if it is?" He challenges, his own brow raised in question.  


"We should fix that," Lance says and picks the basket of clothes up and heads back to the couch.  


Keith rolls his eyes and follows him to the couch. "Good luck with that, Shiro has been trying for years."  


"Is that a challenge, oh grumpy one?"  


Keith's eyes narrow. "And so what if it is?"  


"Challenge accepted! You're gonna be a social butterfly once I'm done with you!" He is grinning now, a full on smile that makes Keith smirk in amusement. 

* * *

  


Lance is the one who answers the door once the doorbell rings. He is then greeted by a judging look from Pidge and Hunk, who had his eyes glued on to the mini white board with doodle Lance and doodle Keith on it and a 'Lance + Keith's Happy House' writen in Lance's handwriting.  


"I can't belive you hung this up on your front door," Pidge says with a scrunched up nose. "Disgusting."  


"Really? I think it's cute," Hunk says and Lance nods in appreciation.  


"Thank you, Hunk. You're still nicer than Pidge and I hope you will never change," he says and aims a pointed look towards Pidge, who looks as if she wanted to kick his shins. "Alright guys, get ready to meet Keith! Hey, Keith," he calls and watches as Keith stood up from the couch, then with a confused, look sits back down. He stands up again once Lance raises a brow at him and walks over to where they all stood at the front door.  


It wasn't before he was halfway to the door that Lance catches the panic look on his face and knew that he was going to do something he might regret later.  


" _A-annyeonghaseyo!_ " he says and bows a ninety degree angle bow like the Japanese he is.  


The trio watches him in silence, Lance doesn't know if this was good for his health, or Keith for the matter. He turns his attention to his friends to gauge a reaction out of them, both who also had a surprised look on their face.  


Pidge is full on laughing now and Lance can't help but face palm at the poor predicament. "I like him already," she says in between gasps of laughter.  


Hunk is giving Lance a look of confusion now, and Lance prepares himself for the question he knows only Hunk would ask. "I thought he was Japanese?"  


Lance groans in to his hands and looks back to see a confused Keith. "...like me?" He mumbles in question.  


"Yeah, I mean I like you like a bro, that kinda like," Pidge grins at him and Lance notices how Keith has a look of realization before visibly relaxing. Lance wonders what he meant when he caught him mumbling, "so that was what he meant," with a content look. Lance worries.  


"Just come in guys," he says tiredly, watching as Pidge merrily skips in with Hunk on her tail. He closes the door behind them and sighs again when he hears Hunk asking Keith if he was really Japanese, Keith answers with a confused 'yes' and Lance watches them head over to the couch from the corner of his eye. Well, he was going to have to get use to this anyway, so why not try now.  


"Alright guys, who wants to play Mario kart?" He beams loudly and immediatly shoots a look at Pidge. "And no Pidge, no Rainbow Road. 

* * *

  


The night went relatively well, in Keith's opinion anyway. After finding out that 'I like you' meant something akin to friendship related, like meaning what it's actually meant, Keith felt a weight lifted from his shoulders. Apparently, Shiro was right, it did mean what it was meant to mean.  


"So what was it about you experiencing emotion for the first time again?" Shiro deadpanned , leaning against the doorframe with a quirked eyebrow and a tupperware filled with brownies in the hand of his prosthetic arm.  


"I have no idea what you're talking about," Keith replies with a frown and narrowed eyes.  


"You had a dilemma, Keith," he states and straightens up. "A dilemma that couldn't wait to be solved? A dilemma that had you calling me at like what? 3 a.m?" It was his turn to frown and Keith furrows his brows in thought.  


"Oh," Keith says after remembering the call. "Well, I solved it," he concludes with a satisfied tone, his lips quirking up into a small smile.  


Shiro returns the smile, his left eye twitching in irritation. "You know Keith, if I had both my arms right now, I would strangle you."  


Keith blinks. "You have your prosthetic arm," he offers, gesturing to his right arm.  


"It doesn't work that way, I have to feel your veins pop," he says patiently.  


"You have your other arm," he offers again, gesturing to his other arm.  


"No Keith, it's more satisfying when I feel it with both my hands," he says and Keith bites back a scowl.  


"Thanks for coming anyway," Keith grumbles, doing that angry pout face.  


Keith was honestly greatful for Shiro's arrival, he never doubted Shiro. Shiro would always go to great lengths to help someone, he had a good heart and Keith admires him for that. Also, he was glad that he had someone he knew and could talk to, it was starting to get awkward.  


"Is that Shiro?" Lance calls from his place seated beside Pidge, a game controller in hand and a soda in the other. Keith didn't miss the small stain of barbecue sauce on the corner of his lips and had to strain himself from smiling, Hunk made them chicken wings and Lance seems to love them. He sees Pidge and Hunk peering at the door with interest and Keith decides to let Shiro in, cause brownies.  


"Seems lively in here," Shiro laughs and Keith shrugs back in response, a small smile making it's way up.  


"Holy hot doritoes! It's Bucky!" Was Pidge's immediate response when she laid eyes on Shiro for the first time. "If I speak your language will you be at my beck and call? Its an important question," she had a gleam in her eyes and Keith chooses not to question her.  


Shiro raises a brow in question. "Depends, can you speak Japanese?" He says with a smirk and crosses his arms.  


" _Konichiwa,_ " she says treatheningly and Shiro blinks in confusion before turning to Keith.  


Keith shrugs and moves over to their cluttered living room, there were chips strewn about the coffee table, some crumbs littering the floor along with pillows lying about, Hunk's chicken wings sat beside the bag of chips, a trail of barbecue sauce trailing a line across the table. Keith makes himself comfortable on his red couch and watches as Shiro heads over to sit beside Hunk.  


"I brought brownies," Shiro announces, earning a look of approval from Hunk and a cheer from Lance.  


"Are you god?" Pidge says in awe, munching on a brownie like the little rodent she was. "Hey Keith, are you gonna introduce us to your dad or what?"  


Keith blinks, confused. "But he's my brother," he tells her in amusement.  


"Hah, better! What do you think Hunk?"  


"It's good and all but Lance's abuelita's brownies take the trophy for best brownies. Oh, and my name's Hunk, this is Pidge. Nice to meet you...Shiro?"  


"Takashi Shirogane, nice to meet you Hunk and...Pidge? Are you Matt's little sister?"  


"I prefer evil's incarnate, but yeah, I'm his little sister," Pidge says with a fond smile at the mention of her brother.  


"Alright people, enough chit-chat. I swear to god Pidge, how the hell do you keep winning?!" Lance grumbles and chooses Donkey-Kong. "Keith! Stop drawing and let's play a round!"  


Keith rolls his eyes in annoyance but puts his drawing block away and sits next to Lance anyway. Lance gives him one of his goofy smiles and hands Keith a controller, Keith fights back a blush and turns to face the television, eyes set and determined to win. Keith chooses Bowser and hears protests from everyone.  


He wins that round and earns himself a finger from Pidge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday Keith~


	5. Cooking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Did you trip on this?"
> 
> "Don't laugh and I won't shove this butter knife down your throat."
> 
> "But Keith, you tripped on my fuzzy lion slippers, what's not funny about that? By the way, they have these in red, want one?"
> 
> When Lance and Keith cook.

Chapter 5: Cooking  


  


Lance and Keith were average cooks. Lance thinks that he was slightly better than Keith, but considering Keith's competitive nature, he begged to differ. They took turns with preparing breakfast and dinner and they would sometimes eat out or order a take out cause there were some days where there was no time for groceries.  


Lance had stopped skipping his meals when he finally got a full-time job at Altea and when Keith moved in. He didn't have to worry about next month's rent anymore or when his next meal will be. A stable job and only paying half the rent made Hunk and Pidge worry less about his nutrition. Lance would be dead if his Mama ever found out he was ever skipping meals, he didn't have to worry about lying to her anymore though.  


Keith was a different story, he works as a free-lance artist and has to constantly look out for commissions. The commissions weren't really the problem sometimes, it was the clients that gave Keith a headache. They would sometimes change their opinions and Keith would have to redraw the whole thing, the time limit would stay fixed and he would have to rush the piece. So far there were no refunds, the clients loved his pieces. But it was because of these constant changes that Keith had to readjust his schedule and end up forgetting to eat. Leave it to Lance to shove a loaf of bread for Keith to munch on while drawing.  


Grocery shopping was another thing, they took turns doing it like how their cooking schedule was set. If Lance cooks, it was Keith who shops. And if Keith cooks, it was Lance who shops. They go grocery shopping together on rare occasions where they're both free. Although, they end up at the grocery store longer than they'd want due to the constant arguing of which brand of chips to buy.  


As far as cooking went, disasters were soon to appear. Cause Lance thinks he's always right and Keith never follows instructions. 

* * *

  


Lance had a late night last night, so Keith took it upon himself to prepare breakfast for Lance and himself. What soon started out as smooth sailing had ended up into a thunder storm of flour and eggs with the main being burnt waffles.  


"It's edible, trust me," Keith tells Lance. Lance could only stare at Keith's unreadable expression as he adds whipped cream on top of his waffles and eats it normally like it wasn't burnt to a crisp. Lance swears he could hear crunching noises, and it wasn't the good kind of crunchy. Keith slowly chews on it, deliberately staring at him in the eye as he swallows it whole without even blinking.  


Lance stares at his waffles. They were slightly less burnt than Keith's waffles and although it was sweet and all with how he chose to give Lance the less burnt ones, he couldn't help but think it was out of guilt. He eyes them warily, cuts a small piece out and stuffs it into his mouth with a whole strawberry, hoping that the fruit's sweetness will block out the burnt taste. He was wrong, it was crispy and bitter, the after taste of charcoal is left in his mouth and he quickly drowns out the taste with orange juice, the only breakfast item Keith hadn't manage to ruin.  


"Oh god...I thought my taste buds were gonna die on me!" He says and Keith narrows his eyes as Lance pours himself another glass of orange juice. "Keith, you make beautiful paintings. But you are not a cook. Seriously, I don't think I can ever view waffles the same way again," he continues ranting as Keith finishes the last of his burnt waffles and heads over to the sink.  


"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Keith grumbles and shoves Lance's leftovers into the trashcan before dumping the plates into the sink with a clutter. "The stupid waffle making machine hates me Lance. I swear...and if it weren't for this-" he lifts Lance's indoor slippers for emphasis. "-the kitchen wouldn't be so messy!"  


"Did you trip on this?" Lance asks, incredulous.  


Keith lifts a finger to silence him. "Don't laugh and I won't shove this butter knife down your throat," he seeths treatheningly with a heated glare.  


"But Keith, you tripped on my fuzzy lion slippers, what's not funny about that? By the way, they have these in red, want one?" He says while slipping the slippers on.  


"I'm fine, thanks," he growls out lowly and starts buttering some toast for Lance.  


"Is that for me?" Lance questions, expression softening at the sight.  


"So what if it is," Keith grumbles, red face and all.  


"Awwww, Keithy~ You do care! And they said the romance was dead," Lance coos and immediatly shuts up when Keith aims the butter knife towards his face.  


"Do not."  


"Yes sir." 

* * *

  


Keith can cook, just not as well as Shiro can, or Hunk for the matter, Hunk was a master chef none of them could could compare. But Keith has mastered the basics, like pancakes, scrambled eggs, fried rice and ramen, easy stuff except waffles, Lance had forbade him from ever using the waffle maker again. He didn't have a signature dish, they were all average and he never cared enough to improve on his culinary skills.  


Today's spaghetti and meat balls had been a miracle, the tomato sauce was perfectly seasoned, the meat balls were surprisingly tender and the noodles were cooked just right. If Keith was being honest, he'd admit that he'd nearly choked when he tasted it the first time, completely in disbelief. He couldn't wait till Lance tried it once he got home.  


"You're telling me that _you_ cooked this?" Lance had said after finishing two plates of spaghetti. "Like, you didn't call Hunk over or some other master chef? Or maybe Pidge, wait. Not Pidge," he says, still in disbelief.  


Keith rolls his eyes. "Yes, Lance. Gordan Ramsay was in the area, so I called him up to help us cook dinner," he remarks dryly and earns a sceptical look from Lance. "Please don't tell me you believed that."  


"I dunno Keith, you're naturally sarcastic and I can't really tell if you're serious most of the time," he replies and Keith frowns.  


"I made the food, it tastes great, believe it or not. So deal with it," Keith huffs and stands from his seat across from Lance.  


"Woah there Keith! It's not that I don't believe ya! It's just...the waffles gave me too much of a fright to actually believe that you could cook good food," he says almost guiltily and Keith decides to stay and listen. "If it makes you feel any better, I enjoyed the meal," he says and offers a smile.  


Keith takes a moment to process the words, not because he got distracted by Lance's other-worldly smile or anything. "Thanks," he says and flashes a smile of his own.  


For some reason, Lance's face had lit up like a match after that exchange and Keith will never know why. 

* * *

  


"What the hell is that?" Keith speaks after laying his eyes on a pot of...something, which is cooked by Lance.  


"It's...obviously curry?" Lance offers with an unsure shrug.  


Keith eyes the pot in caution. "Did you just say that in a questioning tone?" He inquires warily with a raised eyebrow as Lance pokes the surface with a ladle. "If it's curry, why is it green?" He continues to pester.  


"What, never heard of Thai curry?" Lance bites out, accompanied by a pout.  


Keith wrinkles his nose in distaste. "Thai curry doesn't smell like that," he argues and scowls at his roommate.  


Lance groans loudly. "You know what? I give up. Let's just order a take out," he grumbles and takes out his phone.  


Keith sighs. "Wait," he says and spoons a scoop of the...something, Thai curry, whatever it was Lance concocted and hesitantly shoves it into his mouth.  


"Dude!" Lance exclaims in disbelief. "What if it's poisonous?! Spit that out!" He panics once he notices Keith's face turning green. Keith empties the contents of his mouth in the kitchen sink, groans and slumps on the counter.  


"I regret," he announces and drags a hand down his face.  


Lance is extremely touched by Keith's daring attempt, worried but happy none the less. "Aw, Keith. You didn't have to go and do that," he says softly while handing him a glass of water.  


Keith accepts the water graciously and chuggs it down hungrily. "Didn't want it to go to waste," he mumbles and Lance couldn't help but double over in laughter, laughing until the corner of his eyes have tears in them.  


"I've said it before and I'll say it as many times as I want. You are adorable, Keith Kogane," he says with a swell pride. He completely ignores the stuttering and down right embarrassed Keith and decides to order some pizza later. 

* * *

  


Lance was a great cook, at least that was what his nieces and nephews told him when he serves them the instant macaroni and cheese he bought from the convenience store. Okay, maybe he couldn't cook as well as he would hope, but he did make a mean Brazo de Gitano. His Mama says that he was a natural at baking. He thinks so too, cause he even received a compliment from Hunk.  


But maybe today's attempt at cooking will be better, he had a good feeling about his dish.  


"Keith, open wide," Lance whispers with a grin. He is holding up a spoon full of chicken stir-fry and Keith is staring at him like he has two heads, his headphones resting comfortably around his neck.  


"No," Keith says and resumes shading a picture of an abandoned building with a colour pencil.  


"But why?" His grin flatters and morphs into that pouty face Keith absolutely dreads.  


Keith sighs loudly, the overdramatic kind that usually means he really doesn't want to do a certain chore. In this case, it's dealing with Lance. He places the colour pencil down and turns to fully face his pouty roommate with every intention of setting him straight, because he had a pending deadline and an unfinished drawing to deal with too.  


"Lance, you know the 'curry' you cooked the other day?" He says and Lance nods.  


"It's traumatised me. I don't think I can ever eat curry or your cooking ever again," he says pointedly and turns back to his unfinished piece.  


Lance gasps dramatically, a hand grasping at his heart while the other supported the plate of chicken stir-fry. "I'm hurt Keith, I am thoroughly _hurt_! Is that how you talk to someone who brings you food when you are _obviously_ hungry?!" He says and Keith's stomach decides to betray him and growl loudly like Lance had planned it all along. "Is this all to our friendship Keith?"  


Keith couldn't help sputtering at his embarrassment and traitorous stomach. "L-Lance! Seriously, leave me alone-" he is cut off when Lance shoves the spoon of stir-fry into his mouth forcefully, a look on anticipation on his face as he watches Keith chew on it thoughtfully. He swallows it and and looks at Lance in awe. "I didn't die."  


"Hell yeah you didn't! So, how was it?" He is up from his seat now, an excited grin and an expectant look on his face.  


"Edible?" Keith says and Lance slumps back into his chair.  


"I expected nothing less from you Keith. I'm asking about the flavour!" He grits out, having the sudden urge to strangle him.  


"Average," Keith deadpanned with an amused smirk. "Now get out of my room, I'm working."  


Lance makes an act of thinking that option through before glaring at his roommate. "No, I'm staying here to torment you. Now open wide and finish this," he grumbles and Keith's smirk flatters.  


"I'm not a baby, Lance. I can feed myself," Keith frowns and it was Lance's turn to smirk.  


"Embarrassed Keith?" He teases and takes pride in Keith's rapidly heating face, again.  


"N-no!" He scowls and aggressively eats out of the spoon of stir-fry Lance was holding up to him.  


Lance laughs, because the sight of chubby cheeked Keith with a maddening blush was just too amusing.

"Fuhack yoof!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had my disasters as well...I freakin' burnt fried rice and covered the taste with ketchup!!!


	6. Tolerence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Sure, I'm jealous of your slippers." 
> 
> "I knew it! Put it on."
> 
> "What?"
> 
> "Don't fight me Keith. Just put it on!"  
> -  
> "How do they feel?"
> 
> "Pathetic."
> 
> There are sure to be annoying habits and traits to find in a roommate.

Chapter 6: Tolerance  


  


"Lance!" Keith yells from the doorway, a vicious scowl on his face.  


Lance peers out of the kitchen to see Keith sitting on the floor with various art supplies littered on the around him. Keith glares at him through his peripheral vision and Lance raises a brow in question. The silence stretches on for a few more ticks before Lance finally questions what had gotten his roommate in such a grumpy mood, but it's not like he isn't always in a grumpy mood.  


"This-" he raises the blue lion slippers. "How many times must I tell you not to leave your slippers laying around?" He grits out with a hard glare.  


Lance rolls his eyes, partly from amusement and partly from annoyance. "You have to start paying attention to your surroundings then," he sighs and kneels down to help him with his strewn art supplies.  


Keith huffs a breath, composes himself and throws the slipper at Lance. It bounces off his shoulder and lands next to him. Lance narrows his eyes in challenge, his blue irises, a storm of unannounced mischief aimed at an exsasperate Keith. Keith quirks a brow and shakes his head, a message meant as a warning not to start with him.  


Lance grins, the kind of grin that Keith long identified as something that meant he was up to no good, the kind of grin that only appeared when an idea stroked him. Keith watches in utter confusion as Lance neatly arranges his art supplies back into the bag that they had fallen out of and hands it to him. Keith doesn't move though, all he does is stare at Lance's outstretched hand and his bag of newly bought art supplies. Lance raises a brow at his lack of response and Keith narrows his eyes in suspicion.  


"You're planning something," he says slowly, Lance doesn't bat an eye.  


"No I'm not," he says with furrowed eyebrows and Keith can't really tell if he genuinely meant it. "It's slippers, Keith. What could I possibly hold against you," he grins down at him and Keith hesitantly reaches for his art supplies and takes it off Lance's hands.  


"You're gonna love it," he beams and Keith stares at him in confusion and suspicion as he returns to the kitchen while humming to a Taylor Swift song that Keith may or may not have heard on the radio. Whatever Lance meant would be stuck on his mind until he could figure it out. That meant that he wouldn't be able to focus on the commisions, and he hated that.  


The day after that he found a pair of red lion slippers by the foot of his door, the same kind of slippers that he saw Lance constantly wear around the house. At first he thought that he was dreaming, and then he nearly trips on them, thus confirming their existence. He growls and snatches them off then ground and makes a beeline towards Lances room and gives the door three loud knocks. He frowns at the slippers for good measures and faces towards Lance's door again, set on making things straight.  


The door opens and Lance emerges infront of him, wearing a loose fitted track bottom and a white T-shirt. He had bed head, Keith noticed, and a line of dried drool sticking by the right side of his face. He blinks down at him lazily, dazed and unaware. Keith doesn't know what happened or what had gotten into him, but there was a string of sunlight coming from Lance's open window, the sunlight casting a halo around Lance as the shadows hid in the hollows of his face and neck. He looked...different, even with the dried drool and bed head. Keith's throat suddenly felt really dry.  


He swallows before speaking. "These slippers, what are they doing infront of my door?" He tries sounding stern, but with the combination of just waking up and trying not to choke on his own spit, his voice comes out slightly hoarsed. He mentally cringes at the predicament.  


Lance brightens up once he lays eyes on the red lion slippers. His drowsiness doing a one eighty switch into a look of utter eagerness in a span of one second. Keith is baffled by the sudden change in demeanour of his roommate and his half-asleep mind strains to keep up.  


"I see you've noticed my little gift," he perks up and Keith turns his gaze to the slippers just to avoid staring directly at Lance's overbearing smile.  


"How could I have not noticed them. They were sitting _right_ infront of my door," Keith grumbles, his shoulders slumped in a defeated yet slackened manner, he was _not_ a morning person.  


Lance ignores the sarcastic remark and simply continues babbling on. "I keep thinking that maybe you tripping on my slippers wasn't just a coincidence, and that maybe it was your self-conscience telling you something."  


"Oh, pray tell. What did you think my self-conscience was saying to me?"  


"That you're jealous of my fuzzy yet functional yet seemingly badass blue lion slippers?" He announces smugly and Keith could only stare, stare at the person who he shares a crappy apartment with, the person who sleeps right across the hall from him, the person who shares the rent with him.  


"Sure," he says. "I'm jealous of your slippers."  


"I knew it!" Lance exclaims excitedly, an enthusiastic grin cutting across his face. "Put it on."  


"What?"  


"Don't fight me Keith. Just put it on!"  


Keith complies with a sigh, slipping on the slippers with little effort as Lance watches his every movement.  


"How do they feel?" He questions, level of eagerness high and extremely dangerous in Keith's opinion.  


"Pathetic," Keith says tiredly and Lance gasps in mock offence.  


" _Keith_!" He warns and Keith rolls his eyes in annoyance.  


"Fine. They feel comfy...happy?" He grumbles and earns himself a satisfied smile from Lance.  


"I'm glad you like it. My Mama made it," he says, a soft and fond look decorating his features at the mention of his mother and Keith sighs. He couldn't bear to throw it away _now_. "Enjoy your gift Keith, it was made with love," he whispers the last part and Keith gives him a look.  


"Will do, Lance," Keith replies with a yawn. "Now get your ass up and go make breakfast." 

* * *

  


"ALL THE SINGLE LADIES 

ALL THE SINGLE LADIES

ALL THE SINGLE LADIES

Now put your hands up!

Up in the club, just broke up

I'm doing my own little thing

You decided to dip and now you wanna trip

'Cause another brother noticed me

I'm up on him, he up on me

Don't pay him any attention--eep!!" Lance screeches to a stop once he noticed Keith's presence.  


Keith stares at him in disbelief, his eyes wide and mouth agape, his eyebrows had even shot up to his hairline. It takes a moment for Keith to process the situation happening before him. Lance, in a bathrobe, hair wrapped in a towel and face covered in some kind of face mask. Keith never wanted to come home to this, he didn't think anyone did.  


"Keith!" Lance says nervously and straightens up. "What are you doing back so early?" He avoids meeting Keith's eyes and laughs nervously. There are water droplets dripping from the hair that escaped the towel bound on his head, his fingers are slightly wrinkled from staying in the shower too long and the tips of his ears are flushed red from either the heat from the shower or from embarrassement. Lance was certainly quite a sight to behold. Keith didn't think his brain could process anymore...surprises.  


"I...uh...came back for my phone..." he says awkwardly and raises his phone up for emphasis. He really did came back for his phone, he was on his way to meet a client when he suddenly felt his empty pocket and realized that he forgot it. Keith, having already walked three blocks down from their apartment had begrudgingly returned to their place only to find himself stuck in this awkward predicament and he doesn't know what to do. It could be his social skills at work again.  


The awkward silence stretches out for what felt like forever as both of them could only stand in place and avoid eye contact as much as possible.  


"Why Beyoncé?!" Keith suddenly questions bluntly yet incredulously and Lance could only stare at him in open shock. He looks mortified and Keith doesn't really know if he regrets ever asking that question.  


"Why _Beyoncé?!_ Keith, you adorable idiot! Do you even know what you're saying?!" Lance practically screams into his face as Keith takes three steps back.  


"Wha-" he starts to say, confused but gets cut of by a dubious Lance.  


"Oh don't you ' _wha-_ me, Keith! Beyoncé has always been an inspiration to me. She told me that I am a GROWN WOMAN and that I can do whatever I want, she told me that some women were made, but me, myself was created for a special purpose. She is so glorious she sneezed on the beat and it got sicker. She be making me COUNTDOWN to the days where I'll finally witness her in person. Beyonce told me to always be FEELING MYSELF, and to not for a second think that any man is IRREPLACEABLE. I can almost see a HALO around that beautiful face, telling me that I am FLAWLESS, and that I should always put LOVE ON TOP. She is my religion, she is higher than Jesus. She. Is. BEYOND SAINT," Lance is already screaming by the end of his speech. Keith chooses not to tell him about the cracks in his facial mask and only chooses to nod slowly.  


Keith learns to never talk to Lance about Beyoncé again. 

* * *

  


Lance is staring at Keith. He has been staring at him for a full minute already and Keith doesn't seem to notice. It was like he had something on his mind. He is using the end of his pencil to play with his lip, but he doesn't seem like he is conscious about it. Keith is laid back on his little red love seat, he has been staring out the balcony for awhile now and Lance is getting worried. This hasn't been the first time.  


"Keith," he calls for what seems to be the fifth time, he does't respond for the fifth time either. He blinks and Lance could see how his eyelashes brush against his cheeks. Keith had unusually long eyelashes for a guy, it brought a feminine feature to his face and for some reason Lance found that attractive. His train of thought pauses immediately after that sudden realization and he dismisses it, cause thinking his roommate was attractive was normal, right?  


Keith suddenly jolts out of whatever stupor he was in, like he finally renters the present again. Lance could see the misty look in his eyes, whatever fantasy he was in just now hasn't gotten out of his system and he looks as if he wants to return to it. Their gazes meet and they frown at each other.  


"What?" Keith asks as he finally notices the weight of Lance's gaze.  


"Nothing. I mean I called you like five times? And you didn't respond," Lance says and Keith turns surprise. He looks away from him and focuses on the drawing block sitting on his lap. The silence stretches on for awhile, and Lance finds himself fidgeting with his fingers until Keith finally speaks.  


"I uh...sorry about that," he mumbles and while tugging on the ends of his hair (mullet).  


"It's okay," Lance says and they fall into a comfortable silence this time.  


* * *

  


"Keith, I swear if I see another paint brush or pencil laying around the house somewhere, I'll toss them out," Lance grumbles over the kitchen counter, almost using a paint brush as a fork for his breakfast.  


Keith glances at him sleepily from the doorway. "So that's where that went," he mumbles and stalks over to the dining table and slumps in his seat.  


"Keith, I could have eaten my Sunny-side up with this. God knows what it's been through!" Lance scowls and sits across from him, his cutlery clanking against each other and his chair screeching against the tiled floors.  


"Paint, Lance. They've been dipped in paint," Keith deadpans, drags himself of his seat and heads over to their run down but still functional fridge which was handed down to them by the previous owner. Their chore board stuck haphazardly against the door of the fridge, being held up with only two round red and blue fridge magnets. Keith yanks open the fridge door and locates the strawberry jam, grabs a butter knife from their limited cutlery and a packet of sliced plain bread from the counter before returning to the table.  


Lance smiles goofily at him. "Strawberry jam," he says and Keith flushes.  


"Shut up," Keith mutters and starts jamming a slice of bread.  


Lance makes a crackling sound and Keith is now viciously jamming his bread. He pauses and immediatly aims the butter knife at Lance's face, the strawberry jam dripping off it like blood and filling his nose with the scent of sweetened strawberry. "Do not," he treathens menacingly but Lance is unfazed and keeps up his laughter.  


Keith sighs and takes a bite out of the bread, the same time when Lance finally calms down. "Got the coffee machine going?" Keith questions, a tone of dissatisfaction laced weakly into his words.  


Lance nods. "It's already made, go help yourself," he tells him before stuffing some bacon into his mouth.  


It was Lance's turn to clear the table once breakfast was over and Keith's turn to wash the dishes, a comfortable routine they've settled with once the chore board was set up. Lance grabs a rug and starts to wipe the table to get rid of any unwanted grime, only to be greeted with a stroke of red and blue paint, having a small stroke of purple paint in between. He stares at the table for a long while, long enough for Keith to finish washing the dishes and stand beside Lance, who seems to have stopped functioning.  


"Keith," Lance says and Keith side eyes him.  


"Yeah?" He replies nonchalantly.  


"What is this?" He says slowly.  


"Paint," Keith replies simply.  


Lance sighs, frustrated and tosses the rug down on to the table. "I know it's paint, but the rug? Why does the rug have paint on?!" He all but scolds and Keith scowls at him.  


"Because, that's the rug I use when I'm painting," Keith replies, equally frustrated now.  


"Well, what is it doing in the kitchen?!"  


"I was drying it!" He huffs and it was Lance's turn to scowl.  


"Why did you want to dry it in the kitchen then?" The yelling stops but Lance is still annoyed.  


A soft rumble in the distance echoes in to the kitchen, the rumble of thunder. Keith gives Lance a deadpanned look and Lance strains to hear the pitter patter of rain drops against the ground.  


"Because it's raining," Keith says and Lance feels ashamed now.  


"Oh," he says and stares back at the stroke of paint, almost doing a double take when he noticed the irony of the blue and red paint. "Huh...coincidence much," he mumbles and Keith gives him a look.  


"What's a coincidence?" Keith questions.  


"Nothing," Lance says quickly and Keith raises a skeptical brow before shrugging and turning to leave.  


"It's water colour, it'll wash off," he says before disappearing into the living room. Only it turns out that it wasn't water colour and Lance had taken several minutes of scrubbing at the same spot on the table to realized that.  


Keith had returned to the kitchen at Lance's desperate calls and confirmed it to be acrylic paint and that it could only be washed off with rubbing alcohol. They didn't have any rubbing alcohol around, so they left it there. Lance was still mildly conscious about the irony of the colours though. 

* * *

  


There are many things Lance regrets, but this time was an accident...he thinks. Maybe it was because he just woke up and that his drowsy mind couldn't comprehend probably anything at the moment. The look on Keith's face when he drowned down the dirty paint water would forever be in his memory.  


He had a late night yesterday, helping Allura and Coran close up took longer than he would have liked. Not to mention that he ran into Pidge and originally owed her a favour, a favour he couldn't possibly turn down, cause Pidge's robots scare him. He had returned to the apartment to find Keith's door already closed and locked, meaning that he was either asleep or still working on a piece.  


He had to stealthily tip toe to his room, cause Keith was a light sleeper and he didn't want to risk waking him up. Keith needs all the sleep he could get, cause Lance mostly catches him with dark circles under his eyes the next day. His eyes would be dull and lifeless, Lance liked them bright and alive like the night sky, they suited him more. He barely avoids tripping over a few strewn clothes and makes a mental note to pick them up the next day.  


He didn't fall asleep immediatly though, cause his sister who was in Australia decided to call him up to 'catch up' since she said she missed him. Now, he couldn't turn her down now could he? It was because he missed her too, and it was partly because he wanted to brag a little about his supposedly 'hot' roommate. Appearance wise, he didn't mention Keith's hot headed personality in fear of getting made fun of. By the time they finished with the call, it was already 3 in the morning and Lance had immediatly blacked out after his head hit the pillow.  


Waking up to Keith banging a ladle and a frying pan against each other was one thing, but waking up to Maroon 5? Maybe Keith had a death wish, cause he _knows_ Lance only listens to Maroon 5 when he was in a bad mood, nothing beats the melodious voice of Adam Levine to brighten up his mood. He drags himself off the comforts of his bed, not even bothering to tidy it up and walks out of his room, messy hair and unbrushed teeth and all. He marches into the hallway to find Keith painting in the living room.  


"Morning," he greets and Keith grunts in response. He was in the zone, Lance noted, still drowsy and completely unaware of his surroundings. He could mildly hear 'Sugar' playing in the background, somewhere around the living room maybe. As he approaches Keith, he notices the cup of coffee beside the working artist.  


"Perfect," he says and picks the cup up. "Coffee, just what I needed," he sighs in relief and takes a huge gulp of it. He freezes upon the taste and slowly moves the cup away from his mouth to see a bewildered Keith with his brush in the air as if he wanted to dip it in something. Lance takes a full two minutes to realize how the bitter taste in his mouth got there. He inhales deeply and places the cup back to its original spot and turns to walk away.  


"Lance?" Keith calls out, his tone weaving into a worried one. Lance glances back at him, gives him a thumbs up and staggers over to the bathroom to hurl out whatever he just drank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't die Lance.


	7. Hair tie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Holy- Your mullet is gone!"
> 
> "It's not gone, Lance. I just tied my hair up...Stop staring."
> 
> When Lance is absolutely smitten by none other than Keith Kogane.

Chapter 7: Hair tie  


  


"Hey, Keith. Have you seen my-" he pauses half sentence once he enters the room, cause Keith seems...different. "Holy- Your mullet is gone!" He yells in realization and Keith raises an eyebrow in confusion.  


"It's not gone, Lance. I just tied my hair up," Keith tells him with a roll to his eyes. Lance stares awhile longer until Keith is vissibly uncomfortable. "Stop staring," he mumbles, embarrassed yet for some reason pleased as well.  


"I'm only staring cause I want to get use to it," Lance replies. It was a lie though, he couldn't stop staring at Keith's exposed neck for some weird reason.  


Keith doesn't reply. He simply goes back to painting his unfinished piece, all the while still conscious of Lance's gaze. A few more minutes seem to tick by and Keith didn't think he could take the silence anymore. He turns to Lance, and prays that his voice comes out normally and not stuttering.  


"Wha-" he clears his throat because this was just humiliating. "What was that thing you were looking for?" He questions. He could see from Lance's expression that he had noticed his mess up earlier, cause he had an unreadable expression on his face right now and Keith wants to run into his room and lock himself up.  


"Oh...uh," Lance says, finally prying his eyes away from Keith and roaming around the room. Keith lets out a relieved breath unconsciously and Lance could see some strands of hair falling out of place from that small movement. "Ya know what? I think I remembered where I put that...thing! That thing that I misplaced!" Lance says quickly and darts out of Keith's room.  


It was getting a little too stuffy in there. 

* * *

  


"This is not happening," he could hear Pidge mumble to herself in disbelief. "That's the final straw! Imma ship you two! Klance! IMMA CALL YOU TWO KLANCE!" She starts yelling and Lance and Hunk had to pull her down into her seat before the people working at the diner threw them out...again.  


"Shut up, Pidge!" Lance scolds, a scowl marrying his features. "Me finding him attractive doesn't equal to me liking him," he grumbles and crosses his arms, a pout replacing the scowl as he leans back against his seat. He looks at Hunk hopefully for advice and Hunk shrugs in response.  


"I dunno, Lance. That was not the same thing you told me when I found Shay attractive," Hunk says and stuffs a whole pancake into his mouth. "These are delicious by the way."  


"Not helping Hunk. Besides, this is Keith we're talking about! Finding Keith attractive is like saying Pidge won't start a robot apocalypse! The first victim being me, because Pidge is evil and doesn't like peanut butter because of her evilness," he sounds desperate now, and he could see how Pidge enjoyed that while Hunk is just biased.  


"Who finds who attractive now?" A new voice intercepts and Lance recognizes it. He wanted to die on the spot.  


"Hey, Shiro," Lance greets, the first ever unenthusiastic greeting he ever gives, and it was to his roommate's brother.  


Shiro raises a questioning eyebrow. He has the look of a dad catching his children up to no good, Lance never liked that look, it reminded him too much of his Papi when he caught Lance attempting to clinb a tree because he wanted to feel superior like Napoleon did when he stood atop the Alphs. His left hand is on his hip and a gym bag is slung by is right side. He looks freshly out of the shower and Lance wanted to curse the heavens for gifting both brothers with good looks.  


"Seems I'm not welcomed here," he says in that firm tone of his, but the smirk on his face says otherwise. "Morning Hunk, Pidge," he greets them both with a nod.  


"Oh my god, Hunk! It's yesterday's dinner!" Pidge says with a startled look and Lance prepares himself for whatever Pidge was going to say.  


"What does that even mean?" Hunk questions, a confused brow raised.  


"I had beef last night," she states and Lance groans loudly into his hands. Hunk takes a longer time to process the meaning of her words, and when he got it Lance could literally see a light bulb flicker on in his head.  


"Pidge, no," Hunk says, but he has amusement twinkling in his eyes. Both of them bursts out laughing and Lance had to refrain himself from joining in.  


Shiro looks to Lance. "Beef?" He queries and Lance couldn't help but laugh along.  


Hunk is polite enough to cease his laughter and apologize to Shiro first, Pidge follows after him and they both greet him in return. Shiro continues to give them skeptical looks before sighing and accepting the seat Lance had just offered him.  


"Your timing is perfect, Shiro. Lance here thinks that-mmphf!" Pidge is shushed by Lance who unceremoniously clamps her mouth shut and starts laughing sheepishly.  


"Don't mind her, Shiro. She's crazy," he tells him and starts laughing again. "This little pidgeon-ah! Teeth! Teeth! Sharp pointy tiny midget teeth!" Lance cries in pain as Pidge viciously bites at his hand.  


She lets go of his hand and Lance is left with one huge bite mark on his right hand, he swears that it was even bleeding, but no one at the table bothered with it. Lance pouts at their lack of attention and slumps against his seat in utter dramaticness. He watches as Shiro calls over a waitress and orders himself two plates of waffles and a cup of black coffee. Speaking of waffles...he remembers the time Keith made waffles and epically failed at them. He couldn't help smiling to himself about it.  


"Ew...look at him, he's smiling to himself," Pidge announces with a disgruntled look and Lance frowns at her. "He's long gone, pray for the weak have fallen," she continues solemnly and gives Lance a pitying look.  


" _Pidge_ ," Lance bites out and Pidge blinks innocently at him.  


"Can I ask?" Shiro questions and Hunk rolls his eyes at his friends behaviour.  


"Pidge here thinks that Lance has a thing for your brother," Hunk says and Lance has never felt so betrayed.  


"I trusted you, Hunk, you were my amigo, my pal. Now look at you, betraying me before my very eyes," Lance whimpers and slouches on to the table, his half eaten French toast and orange juice long forgotten.  


"Don't be overdramatic, Lance. I mean, it's just Shiro," Hunk sighs and pats Lance on the head sympathetically.  


Shiro laughs and Lance wishes he didn't. "Well does he?" He questions and Lance groans loudly.  


"I don't," he replies Shiro and Shiro hums in thought. "I just find him attractive," he adds on just to prove his earlier statement.  


"Well, finding someone attractive doesn't necessarily mean liking that someone," Shiro says and Lance is thrilled. He shoots up from his slouched position on the table and glances smugly at Pidge.  


"Hah! Lance, one. Gremlin, zero." He says and Pidge childishly sticks her tongue out at him.  


"But it also doesn't necessarily mean that that someone isn't interested in that certain attractive individual," Shiro adds with a knowing smirk and it was Pidge's turn to gloat. "So Lance, are you intrested in my brother?" He questions almost menacingly yet at the same time teasingly and Lance is extremely confused.  


"I'm telling on you to Allura," he suddenly blurts out and a series of things happens at the same time. Shiro immediately turns beat red, Pidge is slamming her tiny fist on the table as she doubles over and howls with laughter while Hunk looks as if he wanted to be anywhere but here. 

* * *

  


Keith finds himself standing in the middle of a quaint little flower shop he found on his way back from meeting with a client. The soft pestel blue of the shop's exterior brought a sort of calmness to its surroundings and Keith thinks this was the perfect place to get inspiration from if he ever needed some. He glances at the many varieties of flowers decorating every inch of the shop, even the corners were littered with masses of different kinds of flower petals. Keith wonders how he could have missed such a picturesque place, it was very charming and seemed quite popular with the surrounding neighbourhood people.  


A fond memory surfaces when he sees some hydrangeas neatly arranged in a section of the shop, his mother loved hydrangeas. He sees a few pots of carnations in different shades of colours and a vast variety of lilies in another section and smiles a little when he remembers Lance bringing some home to 'lighten up the place'. Then he sees some flowers he doesn't think he has ever seen before. They are a soft shade of pink, some darker and more pronounced than the other, the pistil sticks out of the flower for easy pollination, the petals have a lighter shade of a pink streak running across the middle, and if it weren't for that light streak of pink it could have easily been mistaken for a lily flower.  


"Those are called Juniberries," a voice startles him out of his silent awe at the particular species of flowers. Keith turns around, an apology already on the tip of his tongue before he pauses at the sight of the pretty lady in front of him. She seems familiar.  


"Uh..." is all Keith manages to get out before hearing a unmistakably distinguishable voice coming from the entrance of the shop.  


"Sorry I'm late Allura. I got caught up in a lecture by Shiro," he hears the voice grumble out, undignified and pouty. He knew that tone all too well.  


"Lance?" He calls over the lady in front of him. The lady (Allura was it?) looks at Keith with recognition and a pleasant smile creeps up her face.  


"Keith?! What the hell?" He hears Lance exclaim before appearing behind some roses. "It _is_ you. Huh...who knew."  


Keith puts two and two together. "You work here," he states more than question and Lance grins.  


"You found me! I should introduce you guys, huh? Allura, this is Keith. Keith, this is Allura," Lance introduces with as much gusto as he could muster knowing that Keith would probably blurt out something stupid and make it awkward.  


"You're the lady Shiro's smitten on," Keith quietly gasps in realization at the familiarity.  


Allura doesn't bother covering up her frown and chooses to stomp down hard on Lance's foot. Lance howls in pain and doubles over to inspect his foot while Allura simply goes on with scrutinizing Keith. Keith shifts uncomfortably at her gaze and awkwardly tugs at the hem of his hoodie jacket.  


"So you're the famous Keith," she says in a soft murmur. She rounds him once and settles right back in front of him just as Lance stands back to his full height. "Lucky for you I've already anticipated your straight-forwardness," she tells him with a nod and a frown towards Lance.  


Lance grins at her sheepishly. "Keith has had a good laugh listening to you and Shiro's misadventures of epic flirting failures," he says, and Keith wasn't an expert on the emotions of girls but he knew that was _definitely_ the wrong thing to say.  


"Lance," Allura says firmly and Lance immediatly straightens, Keith liked her already. "Get back to work," she says with a twinge of annoyance and Lance effectively scrambles over to the counter.  


Allura turns back to Keith with a cheery smile and Keith straightens on instinct as well.  


"So I've noticed you've taken a liking to the Juniberries," she pipes up happily and Keith relaxes at her less menacing tone. "You have good taste, Keith. As you can see, these flowers are a special breed that only we at Altea have. So we are extremely cautious to whom we sell them to," she tells him softly like it was some huge secret.  


"Not cautious in front of Shiro though!" Lance says from his spot over at the counter. He has a cat-like-grin on his face and a mischievous glint in his eyes and Keith holds back some laughter at the glowering look Allura seems to be surpassing.  


"Why don't you go help Coran at the back, Lance. I can handle the front," she tells him sternly and Lance apologizes to her, his grin never leaving. He waves lazily at Keith and only disappears behind more flowers once Keith waves back at him. "I'm sorry about that. He seems more livelier today," she says with furrowed brows and realization seems to dawn on to her as she snaps her head to Keith and grins.  


"What?" Keith asks confused and Allura shakes her head with mirth dancing in her eyes.  


"I think I found a way to shut him up," she giggles and Keith tilts his head in confusion. What the quiznak was so funny? 

* * *

  


Lance swears Keith was doing it on purpose.  


He comes back home to Keith in the middle of tying his hair up, a hair tie is clasped in between his lips as his hands fumbles with his hair to get them in a neat pony-tail. Keith had tooken off his hoodie sometime while drawing, the canvas in front of him is white, save for a few splashes of colour here and there. The black T-shirt Keith wore creases and folds with every movement he makes, the black T-shirt that unfortunately allows a full view of Keith's neck and half of his collar bone. Lance tries oh so hard to battle with the urge to snuggle his face into Keith's neck, cause that would be weird.  


Why was Keith being so unfair? Lance has been a good roommate, hasn't he? What did he do to deserve such a punishment?  


Keith sighs and looks as if he has given up on making the pony-tail neat and just ties the hair tie around whatever could be held in place. He looks back at the canvas and unceremoniously squints at it before sighing once again. He finally notices Lance standing by the doorway and he flashes him a smile in greeting.  


_Unfair_. Lance thinks as he sees Keith standing from his seat near the glass sliding doors that lead to the balcony and walks toward him.  


_Unfair_. Lance thinks as Keith questions him about dinner and whether ordering some Chinese food would be sufficient.  


_Unfair_. Lance thinks when Keith shows him his latest work and it was a drawing of the flower shop, Altea and it was unfairly beautiful, like Keith.  


Maybe Pidge was right about him having a thing for Keith, either that or he was losing his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let the pining...begin!


	8. Sick day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Did it hurt?"
> 
> "What?"
> 
> "When you fell from heaven, cause you're an angel."
> 
> "We have to get you something for that sore throat of yours."
> 
> "I'm happy that you care for my health and all...but are you really going to leave me hanging like that?"
> 
> In which Lance flirts relentlesly and Keith tries his best to be indifferent.

Chapter 8: Sick day  


  


"I'm dying, Keith," Lance gasps, but even doing had tooken up a lot of energy and strained his sore throat. "Make sure they play Adele at my funeral," he wheezes and slumps his head against his soft, soft pillow.  


Keith snorts. "I'd rather lie and have them play The Beatles."  


Lance comes back to life again just to glare at his roommate. "Do you really want to argue with a sick person?" He challenges and Keith rolls his eyes, his pretty, pretty eyes. "I'm sick Keith, _sick_. Meaning drained of all life, meaning I am too tired for this, meaning that, YOU, as the good roommate and best buddie of said sick person is at my beck and call," he grumbles and crosses his arms.  


"Fine," Keith sighs. "What does his highness want?" Lance grins goofily up at him and Keith resist another eye roll.  


"You," he winks and Keith immediatly turns beat red and starts hacking from choking on his spit as Lance laughs hysterically at the outcome and starts coughing himself. Keith grabs him the glass of water sitting by his bedside table and hands it to him. Lance smiles up at him gratefully but Keith is still sour about the tease and all but scowls as he watches Lance drown down the glass of water in seconds. "Thanks," he says but Keith is still scowling at him.  


"You-" Keith pokes him in the chest. "-watch that mouth of yours," he warns, but knowing Lance he won't be fazed.  


"Of course sweet thang, anythin' for you," he says with wiggled eyebrows and Keith wanted to leave, like right now. "Oh, could you get me another glass of water?"  


Keith raises an eyebrow. "Sure-"  


"Cause I think I dropped mine looking at you," he says and all Keith could do was stare.  


"But I saw you drank it all down," was his reply, and Lance would have felt offended that he didn't get the pick up line if it weren't for the apparent blush creeping up his neck and invading the tips of his ears and cheeks. "You know Lance, for a sick person you sure don't act like one," Keith grumbles and tries his best to hide the lower part of his face into his over sized hoodie to cover up the blush.  


"Oh trust me, Keith. I am _very_ sick," he says and gets a sudden cough attack.  


Keith sighs. "Fine," he grunts but his features soften anyway. He uses the back of his hand to feel Lance's temperature and is surprised by how fast his body reacts be retracting his hand away from Lance's forehead. He was burning up. "Holy shit, you're burning hot."  


Lance blinks slowly, looking as if he was processing Keith's words. "Why, thank you," he tells Keith with a weak grin and Keith gives him a look.  


"I see your narcissism is showing even when you're nearly half dead," Keith remarks sarcastically and Lance smirks.  


"Just one of my charms I guess," he says and Keith rolls his eyes. It takes a few more awkward minutes of Keith wondering what to do for a sick person when he realizes that Lance looked absolutely exhausted. "Man, I wish I could have my mama's chicken soup," he mumbles sleepily and Keith suddenly feels a pang sympathy.  


"You should rest, save energy, live to see Pidge grow another centimetre a day," he tells him and Lance nods slowly before resting his head against the pillows.  


Keith sighs. How was he going to make chicken soup? When he was younger and sick, his parents never made such a thing for him. His mother only stayed by his side and sung him lullabies at best. Occasionally, they would force his stubborn younger self to eat the bitter Japanese medicine his father brewed and that was it. Shiro did the same for him as well, oh how he hated traditional medicine. It was not as if he never had chicken soup before, he just doesn't know how to make some.  


He bites his bottom lip as he eyes Lance's phone wearily. Looks like he doesn't have much of a choice. He grabs Lance's phone and slowly scroll through his contacts, finding the one he was looking for. His finger hovers over contact written 'Mama', and he has to take a shakey breath before pressing the call button. Here goes...  


The phone is answered on the second ring and Keith didn't think he was ready at all. Why didn't he think this through?  


"Your son is flirty when he's sick," he blurts out unintentionally and there is dead silence on the other end. Keith face palms at his obvious failure and prays to god that his mother wasn't the type who jumps to conclusions and misinterpret his words.  


" _And this is?_ " his mother asks, a drop of suspicion laced cautiously in her words. Keith swallows nervously.  


"This is his roommate speaking," he chokes out and eyes Lance, sleeping so peacefully that his nose twitches.  


" _You must be Keith!_ " she exclaims almost too happily and Keith nearly drops the phone from being startled.  


"Ah...yes. I am Keith," he strains out, thanking the heavens that no one was here to see his miserable attempts. "Lance is...unwell," he tells her and listens carefully for a reaction.  


He isn't disappointed, nor is he startled this time, he is just bewildered. " _Oh, mi pequeño! How is my little angel?_ " Her tone comes of concern, yet slightly apprehensive like she was thinking 'I knew this would happen' with a disapproving frown on her face.  


"He's sleeping now. He has the usual symptoms of a cold, blocked nose, sore throat and a fever," he tells her gently, all the while paying close attention to said sick person. "I was hoping to uh...make chicken soup for him but..." he trails of lightly with a frown. This was just too embarrassing.  


" _But you're unsure of how to make some?_ " she finishes for him, her tone soft and kind. Keith suddenly remembers his blood-bond mother and his heart aches at the longing. " _Keith,_ " she says softly and he holds a breath.  


"Yeah?"  


" _Thank you,_ " she says gently and Keith furrows his eyebrows in confusion.  


"Why are you thanking me?" He croaks out and clenches his fist tightly.  


" _Thank you for being there for him,_ " she says and Keith could feel the blush coming up his neck.  


"Ah..." he replies and hangs his head low. 

* * *

  


Making chicken soup was relatively easy. Although, he did get an earful from Lance's mother for not having the most basics of meat in their freezer, chicken. The rest of the process was a blur, but all Keith knew was that he now knew how to make chicken soup, it was a win-win honestly. He received several more orders from Lance's mother ordering him to make sure he was eating well, to make sure he was properly ventilated, make sure his head was elevated properly, typical motherly concerns that Keith had subjected to listening.  


By the time she was done, Keith could have sworn that she was on the verge of crying. He had panicked of course, and might have stuttered a few unintelligible words of gratefulness and he _might_ have squeaked in surprise when he heard laughter from her. She must really be worried for Lance for her to go through such lengths as to talk to a stranger, much less trust that stranger.  


" _Keith was it?_ " She asks in amusement and Keith wondered if teasing people was a family trait of theirs.  


"Yeah," he says because he didn't trust himself to utter more than one word.  


" _I would like to meet you one day_ ," she says and Keith could feel her smile through the phone. " _Oh, and tell Lance to call me once he wakes up. I've got an ear full to give that boy_ ," she huffs and Keith laughs, meeting Mrs McClain might not be so bad.  


Keith feels a smile pulling at his lips. "I'll be sure to do that," he says and she thanks him once again for taking care of Lance before hanging up the phone.  


Keith stares at Lance's phone in amusement, making sure to place it back to its rightful place before pouring Lance a bowl of chicken soup. He hoped it tasted good enough, he had followed Mrs McClain's instructions up to the smallest of details, Lance even thinking that it was decent would totally be satisfactory enough. He places the bowl in a tray, grabs a spoon and makes his way to Lance's room. He makes sure to test Lance's temperature again before nodding at the rapid improvement. Then he crouches down to his eye level and gently shakes him awake.  


"Hey, Lance. I've got some chicken soup for you," he says softly and watches as Lance's eyelids slowly flutter open. Keith holds his breath as Lance locks eyes with him, feeling the familiar heat of a blush creeping back up his neck.  


Sick or not sick, Lance was always a sight to behold. Even with bed head, a red nose and purple bags under his eyes, he still manages to look stunning and Keith wonders how. Lance gives him a lopsided grin and Keith has to blink a few times to tell himself this was real.  


"Did it hurt?" He rasps out and Keith gives him a look of confusion, his eyebrows furrowed in thought.  


"What?" Keith questions, internally hoping it wasn't another pick up line.  


"When you fell from heaven," he says and Keith rolls his eyes at the next line. "Cause you're an angel," he grins and there is a twinkle of amusement in his eyes that Keith doesn't fail to catch.  


"We have to get you something for that sore throat of yours," Keith replies and watches Lance's grin drop into a frown. Keith is thoroughly amused.  


"I'm happy that you're concerned for my health and all but...are you really going to leave me hanging like that?" He scoffs and sits himself up, a light glare aimed at a grinning Keith.  


"I have no idea what you're talking about," he says and Lance scowls at him. Maybe Keith was enjoying this too much. "Anyway, I made chicken soup for you," he grabs the tray from the bedside table and presents it to Lance, who perks up immediatly at the sight of it.  


"Aw, Keith," he starts and Keith is suddenly overwhelmed with embarrassment.  


"I uh...got the recipe from your mom," he mumbles shyly and sees the look of shock embedded on Lance's face.  


"You...called my mama?" He says it slowly like it was a rare occurrence and he was probably right. Lance bursts out laughing and Keith is hit with full on embarrassment, his hands were currently occupaid so he didn't really have any way of hiding his red face. "Wait, so you're telling me that you called my mama and asked her to teach you how to make chicken soup?" He gasps in between laughter.  


"Yes, I did. So you better appreciate my efforts, given my awkward personality and my stunning looks that she sadly missed out on," he scowls and sits on the bed, handing Lance the soup with a sour look.  


Lance smiles, the afternoon sunlight streaming through his blinds and accentuating the dimples on his cheek. "Stunning good looks, huh?" He says and Keith realizes too late about what he has just said. "I kinda agree to that," Lance winks and Keith looks away, feeling his face on fire.  


"Just eat the soup before it gets cold," Keith grumbles and starts fiddling with the helm of his shirt, mildly conscious of Lance's stare.  


After one spoon of chicken soup, Lance had abruptly stopped moving and Keith eyes him warily. "Lance?"  


"It almost tastes like home," he whispers and there is a fond look on his face that does funny things to Keith's insides. He smiles at him gently and all Keith could offer was a small smile back. "You really went all out didn't you. You could have called Hunk to save you the trouble but you didn't," he chuckles and gives him a watery smile.  


"You went through the trouble to even call my mama and ask her to teach you how to make chicken soup," he continues rambling and Keith could tell he was holding back tears. "I'm really greatful, Keith. I really am," his smile is so pure and so genuine that Keith fears this was just all a dream.  


"Anytime..." he mumbles and Lance grins at him. "Also, your mom wants you to call her after this."  


"Uh oh..." 

* * *

  


"Can you stay by my side till I fall asleep?" Is what he had asked of Keith after said artist suggested he rested some more. Then he thought that he was may be asking too much out of Keith and is surprised when he agreed to Lance's selfish request. Lance was so overjoyed he thought his heart would leap out of his chest.  


It wasn't suppose to be awkward, but Keith tends to make any situation awkward. He tugs at the ends of his hair too much and fiddles with practically anything he has hold of. As endearing as it maybe, Lance couldn't rest if someone was feeling uneasy beside him. Especially if it was Keith, cause Lance didn't want Keith feeling uncomfortable.  


"You know Keith, if you're really uncomfortable with this you could just-" he starts of sounding gentle and Keith's gaze snaps to him in wide surprise.  


"No! I mean...I don't mind, it's just...I need to do something with my hands," he tells Lance quickly and Lance wanted to laugh, but that would be rude. Keith was just too cute for his own good.  


Lance gives him a lazy smile and Keith looks away from him. "Then draw," he whispers as Keith grunts to him in reply. Lance doesn't know what to make out of Keith's expression, partly because he is facing away from him and Lance felt exhausted with heavy eyelids and all.  


The last thing he sees before falling into slumber is the ghost of a smile gracing Keith's face, a small yet gentle smile that makes Lance feel giddy with joy.  


When Lance gets up, he is pleasantly greeted with a mass of black hair obstructing his view and is pleased to find that Keith had fallen beside him. His head is resting in between his folded arms, the rest of his body still seated on a chair beside his bed. There is a sketch book beside Keith's head, an eraser and a pencil which starts rolling off when Lance reaches over for the sketch book. Lance is absolutely delighted when he lays his eyes on a sketch of his sleeping figure. Because the sketch was in detail, because Keith got the little details on his face and because Keith had to pay really good attention to him if he wanted to achieve this.  


Lance had it really bad, he thinks as he watches the rise and fall of breaths from Keith, noting the soft whistles he makes when he exhales.  


The lighting wasn't helping either, cause streams of orange and red from the sunset are doing Keith's mullet a favour by highlighting the dark strands with gold. It even darkens the hallows in his neck and face and brightens up some parts as well. And then there was his unusually long eyelashes that no man should really posses. When he flutters them gently they catch the gold from the sunset, and now that his eyes are closed they brush against his cheeks and Lance is really fascinated by them, he is really fascinated by Keith.  


His hand moves on its own. It moves towards Keith and lands on his head. Lance is shockingly pleased to find how soft Keith's hair was. Despite his usually rough demeanour, Lance wasn't expecting this at all. He weaves his fingers into Keith's hair and gently massages his scalp. Keith makes a satisfied nose at the back of his throat and Lance suddenly doesn't want to stop. Keith was so... _Keith_.  


He really has it bad, like, _really_ bad. But this was nice, it was comforting.  


He hasn't realized it, but Lance had completely forgotten about his cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soft klance is my favourite klance


	9. I'll put a flower in your hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Correct me if I’m wrong, but you seem to have quite the attraction to your little friend there, don’t you?”
> 
> “Wha…? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 
> 
> “Spring is definitely in the air, my young friend.”
> 
> “But it’s Summer…”
> 
> Lance, Keith and many flowers.

Chapter 9: I'll put a flower in your hair  


  


Lance had a mini flower garden on the balcony, it grew daffodils and tulips in the Spring, sunflowers and lavender in the Summer, chrysanthemums and pansies in the Autumn and primroses and forget-me-not's in the Winter. Now that Lance works at Altea and is now one of their _stunning_ florists, he had access to a variety of flowers, his little garden won't ever be left empty in his care. Tending to it was one of his hobbies, albeit the time consumption it does, but it wasn't like he had anything better to do anyways.  


It was sometimes a hassle with what little space he has to work in to tend to his precious flowers. Most of the plants needed a lot of space to grow and their tiny balcony would not cut it. Choosing the right flowers to grow sometimes was also a hassle, cause the seasons come and go and Lance was always heartbroken when the flowers can't survive the heat of the Summer or the cold of the Winter, he would feel better when he plants a new plant though.  


He often spends his free time there as well, often letting Pidge poke around the plants because she needs some green in her life sometimes. Hunk finds the little area of plants to be quite neat, saying that it was a nice hobby to have, gardening that is.  


And Keith? Well, he doesn't show it but Lance knew he loved the mini garden as much as Pidge and Hunk do. Because Lance catches him drawing there sometimes, a sketch book on his lap and a pencil in his grip. He would pause and a look up at Lance in shock, like he was caught doing something he shouldn't have. Lance would smirk down at him, he doesn't comment on Keith's actions, simply kneeling down and explaining the meaning of the flowers that Keith had drawn.  


The little flower garden brightened up the place, and Lance would be damned if anyone thought so otherwise. It would be one of those places where a lot of memories would be made whether Keith liked it or not (Lance hopes he does). 

* * *

  


"Do hear me? 

I'm talking to you,

Across the waters,

Across the deep blue ocean,

Under open sky

Oh my, baby I'm trying," Keith could hear Lance singing from the balcony. He yawns and grabs the ready made coffee on the counter, half its contents already drunk by him. The mug has a text on it saying 'I don't need sleep', it was a cheap purchase he got online, a little joke to himself for all those all-nighters he pulls just to finish a piece.  


He strolls over to the living room, giving in to the comforts of the red lion slippers Lance gave him as he his feet dragged against the tiled floors. He sits on the couch that was opposite from his red loveseat, the one that has a better view of the balcony. He sets the mug down on the coffee table and stares blankly at the white canvas in front of him, he then sighs and picks the mug up, heading towards the balcony.  


"-lucky to be coming home someday," Keith stares at Lance as he waters the flowers, a peaceful grin on his face. He leans against the door frame that leads to the balcony, raising an eyebrow in questions as Lance turns and smiles at him, his eyes twinkling.  


"Lance? Wha-" Keith starts as he watches Lance pick a daffodil, Lance cutting him off mid-sentence as he twirls over.  


"-and so I'm sailing through the sea, 

To an island where we'll meet,

You'll hear the music fill the air,

I'll put a flower in your hair-" he gently tucks the flower behind Keith's ear. Keith could feel himself stop breathing as Lance's fingers brush against the shell of his ear. He winks at him and spins back to his flowers to continue watering them.  


"Though the breezes through the trees, 

Move so pretty you're all I see,

As the world keeps spinning round,

You hold me right here right now," Keith walks back to his previous spot and sits back down on to the couch, his heart thumping loudly through his ears. He sets the mug back down on the coffee table, the coffee untouched and still half-full. He then covers his face with his hand, feeling the blush rise up to the tips of his ears.  


He stares back down at the blank canvas, the sudden urge to paint the ocean overwhelming him. He picks up a brush and dips it into the readied cup of water, then he locates the blue paint and starts with a simple stroke and continues onward from there. He tries blocking out the singing from Lance as he paints, his face still red from embarrassment. It wasn't as if Lance had a bad voice, it was just...distracting.  


"Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh..."  


It didn't mean anything though...right?  


Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh..." 

* * *

  


"Pretty drawing," Pidge says as she takes a seat beside Keith, legs crossed and hair tied back with a pencil and sketch book on his lap.  


Keith acknowledges her with a nod and crooks his head in thought as he stares at the drawing of the aster flowers he drew, the end of his pencil mindlessly poking at his lower lip. He hums in thought and Pidge raises an eyebrow at him. She scans over the drawing to see what has gotten Keith into such a delima but couldn't seem to find out what was wrong with it, it was flawless, except without colour.  


"What are you thinking?" She questions because that was the only way to satisfy her curiousity.  


Keith side eyes her. "About how I lost my inspiration to draw once you sat down next to me," he says and Pidge stares at him, incredulous. He gives her a deadpanned look as Pidge punches his arm.  


"You dick! I was only asking!" She pouts and earns a snort from Keith.  


"Lighten up, shorty. I was only joking," he tells her with a smirk and she frowns.  


"It's a miracle...Keith can joke! Keith, the emo, the one who ate his heart to show the world that he could care less about you and your personal life," She exclaims dramatically and earns herself a scowl from Keith. "I'm sorry. You're just so sarcastic all the time that it's hard to tell when you're joking," she deadpans and Keith rolls his eyes at her.  


Lance watches the exchange from the dining area, smiling to himself as Pidge sticks her tongue out at Keith as Keith retaliates with an eye roll. It was nice that Keith was getting along with his friends, but it wasn't like Hunk and Pidge never did anything either. Lance had to admit that getting Keith to open up was as hard as opening a can without a can opener, unless you were Keith and you had a knife because jeez, it was a memory he personally did not want to relive. But, Lance had a way with people and everyone liked Hunk, but Pidge and Keith got along naturally, as odd as that might seem. He had a suspicion that they bonded through making fun of Shiro, and the man himself could hardly fend off Keith alone.  


Keith laughs and Lance's expression softens, he loved it when Keith laughed, smiled even. It was like finding a rare jem, precious like a diamond. He didn't know how long he was staring but by the time he snapped out of his stupor, Hunk was giving him a look. Hunk had an eyebrow raised, his arms crossed across his chest and a knowing smirk playing at his lips. Lance had to fight back a groan of distaste after realizing what he had just revealed to his best friend.  


"Do I need say it?" Hunk says with a growing smirk and Lance suddenly felt like stabbing the apple sitting on the dinning table in a bowl with some other fruits. He hated Hunk for his observation skills, but it wasn't like his obvious crush wasn't as obvious as knowing that the earth revolved around the sun.  


"Please don't," he groans and plants his forehead against the table. Hunk pats him on the back reassuringly and Lance remembers why he was friends with him in the first place. He turns his head to his friend seated beside him, a sad pout on his face as Hunk hums in thought.  


"How long?" Hunk asks and Lance himself is startled by the question and sits up straight.  


"I...don't know," he replies uncertainly, his brows furrowed and fist clenching and unclenching.  


Hunk nods and looks out at the balcony. "Pidge is so going to rub it in your face," he says and Lance groans.  


"Maybe don't tell her for a while more? I mean, she's smart. She'll figure it out in no time," he says and slouches into his seat, wishing that it would swallow him up. "About Keith though, I don't know how things will work out..." he exclaims and slides down his seat until he was near the edge.  


"You'll get there buddy," Hunk tells him with a solemn nod and Lance side eyes him.  


"So helpful, Hunk," he drawls out and sighs. "Is this how you repay me for helping you with Shay?" He quirks an eyebrow at him and Hunk visibly brightens a light shade of red, he always does everytime Shay is mentioned.  


"Well-I mean-Thanks for that and all but...I won't make a good wing man! _You're_ good at it, not me!" He exclaims, slightly panicked and Lance laughs.  


"Jokes aside, I think you'd make a great wing man, Hunk," he winks and Hunk sighs in defeat.  


"Dude, just...good luck man. Because judging from Keith's character, I think he would be totally oblivious to whatever flirting you try to pull off. I mean, it took us quite some time to actually gain his trust, he lets Pidge sit on his _couch_ now!" Hunk tells him and Lance makes a face.  


"He doesn't let me sit on his couch," he mumbles slightly offended with a hint of jealousy. "Also, you changed the subject!" He accuses and sits up from his slouching position.  


"Lance, seriously. I'm _trying_ to help you," Hunk says carefully and Lance shrinks back into his seat.  


"Fine, yeah...Keith is hard to deal with and I'm fairly sure he has attitude problems, being the angsty man he is, but for some reason I developed a crush on him. My roommate. The guy who I'll have to live with till...I don't know! Just...he's different, I guess. It's a cliché reason but...I really think it'll be different than my past relationships," He exclaims, mumbling the last part more to himself just for self-reassurance.  


Hunk gives him a sympathetic look and looks back out the balcony. "I can tell you that he's a good guy. But I'm just saying not to beat yourself up about it if things don't go the way you want them to. Like, maybe Keith has his own problems to deal with."  


"Yeah..." Lance mutters and looks out to the balcony in time to see Pidge flicking Keith off and storming straight towards them as Keith simply shrugs and returns to his drawing. 

* * *

  


Lance watches the crowd of people outside the flower shop, the crowd of people that Keith seemed to have gathered. He doesn't seem to notice their presence, only solely focusing on his painting. Allura had wanted to chase off the crowd, but reconsiders this after the amount of customers it seemed to have brought.  


Lance narrows his eyes at the group of high school girls that are giggling amongst each other, a few of them snapping pictures of Keith when he does that adorable thinking pose of his where he bites at his thumb's nail and tilts his head.  


Keith seems to suddenly snap out of his focus and glances around the crowd in a bit of a panic. Lance smirks in amusement when he makes eye contact with him and frowns, a look Lance makes out as ' _why the hell didn't you tell me about the audience behind me_?' as he resumes to his painting with a permanent pout on his face. If Lance squints, he could make out the tiny blush on his face.  


"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to have quite the attraction to your little friend there, don't you?" Lance startles at the comment, whipping his head around to meet a sly looking Coran.  


"Wha...?" He exclaims in surprise then gathers himself together. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he says after clearing his throat and looking away from the moustached man.  


Coran keeps that sly look of his, stroking his moustache in thought as he looks towards Allura and Shiro, standing only a few feet away and chatting animatedly with each other. Lance couldn't help but note the power couple aura they seem to carry, too bad they weren't exactly a couple. Then his moustached friend seem to look towards Keith and back at Lance himself, he then nods and turns away from him, leaving Lance very confused.  


"Spring is definitely in the air, my young friend," he says before disappearing behind some flowers and into the back room.  


"But it's Summer..." Lance mutters in utter confusion before looking back towards his roommate who has a satisfied smile on his face as he proudly stares at the finished piece, the crowd of people applauding him.  


Once the crowd starts dispersing, Keith makes his way towards Lance, Lance pretending to be busy with the cash register as he counts the remaining steps Keith takes to reach him.  


"Hey," he says and Lance allows himself to look up at him, noting the slight quirk to his lips. He shows Lance his finished piece, striking colours of the shop's exterior making Lance gap in awe. Flowers, a variety of them painted individually, they vary from sunflowers to chrysanthumums, a colourful barrage of them.  


"As beautiful as always, Keithy," he says and Keith blushes.  


"Th-the painting? Y-yeah," he stutters and Lance couldn't help but take advantage of the flustered Keith.  


"Painting, sure. I mean, it _could_ be something else...or _someone_ else," he finishes with a wink and Keith blushes harder, a glare accompanying his flustered state.  


"Shut up, Lance," he grumbles while placing the painting down.  


"So," Lance starts, eyeing Keith as he looks towards Shiro then back at him. "What are you gonna do with the painting?"  


Keith seems to be in deep thought for awhile before shrugging. "I'll just give it to Allura, I guess," he says and Lance nods at the answer. What follows next is silence, the awkward kind that would make anyone uncomfortable, but for some reason Keith looked at peace.  


A cool breeze passes by, and Lance watches as Keith closes his eyes. His gaze shifts to the petals dancing around the shop, the wind chimes that hung by the entrance create their own little symphony of jingles. Allura and Shiro seem to have went somewhere else, they weren't at the spot Lance first saw them at. His gaze shifts back to Keith, a smile reaching his eyes when Keith meets his gaze and avoids them.  


"Hey, what's your favourite flower?" Lance questions above a whisper and Keith turns his gaze back to him, staring with a look of contemplation.  


Keith opens his mouth to reply, only to get interupted by a customer. He seals his lips shut, nodding at Lance to take care of the customer as he picks the painting up and heads out the store. Lance watches in disappointment as Keith's figure slowly disappears behind a sea of people, irritation ebbing at him as he faces the customer. He had to make an effort to smile, feeling his right eye twitch every once and awhile. If the customer noticed, they didn't seem to care.  


He lets out a frustrated sigh once the customer is gone, burying his face into his arms as he looks outside the shop, a small part of him hoping that Keith would come back. He never got to know his favourite flower...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm dying inside~


	10. Lancey Lance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Got something on your mind? Or perhaps a _someone_?"
> 
> -
> 
> "A certain someone on your mind lately, Keith?"
> 
> -
> 
> "I see. You're buying flowers that I specifically said was a certain someone's favourite."
> 
> -
> 
> "Troubled?"
> 
> An inside on Keith about a certain blue eyed roommate.

Chapter 10: Lancey Lance  


Lance was...acting more _Lance_ than usual. Keith had brushed it off at first, thinking that it was only a phase, but the subtle winks and occasional pick up lines were happening much too often for it to be considered _friendly_. He more than once had found himself a stuttering mess after several innuendos casually spilled from Lance's mouth, a nonchalant shrugged and subject change always came right after.  


He wondered if his roommate was planning something, trying to throw Keith off his game or something. But whenever Keith would send him suspicious glares, he would in turn just send flirtatious smirks in return, causing Keith to just downright flush red in embarrassment.  


"Keith," he snaps his attention towards the worried voice, a concerned Shiro raising a questioning brow in his direction. "You're spacing out," he says as Keith watches the condensed water from Shiro's iced tea slide off the glass and pool at the bottom.  


He sniffs. "Was not," he mumbles, shuffling in his seat and facing away from his brother.  


"Got something on your mind?" He ignores the deny. "Or perhaps a _someone_?" He is smirking now, that knowing smirk that Keith has come to hate growing up.  


" _Uruse yo aniki_ ," he says through gritted teeth, the hairs of his neck standing from the shock of Shiro reading him so well.  


" _Ahhh, nanka wakata..._ " Shiro says, smirk turning sly.  


" _Haaa!? Nani ga??_ " he exclaims, exasperate.  


" _Otouto ga, koi wo, O. Chi. Ta,_ " he finishes with crossed arms, leaning back against his seat in self-satisfaction.  


"Wha--?! I'm not- why would you even--?! Ugh!!!" He huffs, his right brow twitching in irritation as Shiro bursts out laughing at how red his face had gotten  


Shiro was being utterly rediculous, they even slipped back into their mother tongue without even noticing it. But Shiro wasn't the only one to point out that ridiculous statement, Pidge, had in fact, pointed out the exact same thing as well.  


"Hey up there, yes the tall person on my right, yeah you, weeb are you even listening?" She calls out to him, startling him out off his thoughts to glance down at her.  


"I'm sorry, what?" He questions her, dazed and confused with furrowed brows.  


Pidge looks up at him, scrutinizing him with narrowed eyes as she pushes her round glasses in place. She scrunches her nose in thought and finally sighs in defeat as she casts her gaze downward.  


"You're...hopeless," she murmurs to herself, Keith not really catching the word in the middle, only vaguely thinking that it sounded suspiciously like 'both'.  


But what does she mean by that?  


Keith scowls at her. "Why am I hopeless?" He decides to question her in favour of leaving it alone, cause he was curious and slightly offended.  


"There are pine trees everywhere," she mumbles, her expression morphing into that of pure disgust. "That poor fool," she continues with a shake to her head, emphasizing her pity.  


"What the fuck, Pidge," he says to her in hopes of getting at least a small clue of what she was referring to.  


"A certain someone on your mind lately, Keith?" She says suddenly, startling him into sealing his mouth shut, cause there was no way he was letting her know anymore than that.  


"That's what I thought," she tells him with vigour and Keith wanted nothing more but to throw his sketch book at her and hoped the corner of the book struck her.  


Weird conversations like these continued though, cause it seems that Allura was getting the same kind of idea. Why they thought so was a mystery, cause Keith swears that he hides his emotions well enough. Allura wasn't as straightforward as Shiro, nor did she beat about the bush like Pidge, instead she had her own unique way of expressing herself.  


"Flowers have their own language as well," she tells him in passing when he was visiting the shop. Keith, not really knowing what to reply or what she actually meant, could only tilt his head and crook and eyebrow at her in confusion.  


"Take a rose for example, everyone knows that the rose is the flower of love," she says, eyes glued to tending said plant. "My father's favourite were Juniberries, they mean elegance and purity," she says in a far away tone, her smile bittersweet.  


She used past tense when she mentioned her father, Keith didn't want to pry, so he leaves it as it is, knowing what she meant. Then she turns to him, her smile sly and Keith fears for the worst.  


"Did you know that a Violet means faithful love?" She chirps as Keith takes a step backwards and nods his head. Yes, he knew. "Tulips are declarations of love as well!" She pushes on and Keith narrows his eyes in suspicion.  


"Allura, wha--" he starts to say but is cut off when she spins to meet his gaze, her hands occupaid by a small pot of Bluebells.  


"Lance's favourites are Bluebells," she tells him enthusiastically. "Apparently, they mean constancy."  


Keith bites back a scowl, watching as she gently places the flower pot down and turn back to him. "So tell me Keith, what are you doing here?"  


"It's rude to ask paying customers questions," he grumbles, a frown in place.  


"Problem is Keith, you're not really here to buy anything now are you?" Allura says, her sly smile taking a frightening resemblance to Shiro's. "Are you here to see a certain someone?" She quiries, but Keith refuses to back down, even if he feels the back of his neck heating up from embarrassment.  


"Am not!" He all but yells, quickly toning down when he realizes his sudden outburst would attract a certain someone's attention at the counter. "I-I _am_ buying something!" He continues lowly and grabs the small pot of Bluebells, Allura watching him in amusement all the while.  


"I see," she says, the teasing smile never wavering. "You're buying the flowers I specifically said was a certain someone's favourite."  


"I'm leaving," he says quickly and turn towards the entrance, Bluebells still in hand.  


"Ke-Keith! You're still going to have to pay for that!"  


Keith prays that word doesn't reach Shiro. He wasn't expecting Allura to belive such nonsense at all, it was so like her to go about it in a roundabout way. What he _didn't_ expect was for Hunk to jump to assumptions as well.  


"Keith? Could you pass me the blueberry jam please?" Hunk says, hand outstretched and waiting for the jar.  


Keith blinks twice in confusion before reaching over to grab the jar of blueberry jam, suddenly pausing to stare at it in wonderment. It was blue, like Bluebells, like the colour of the blue lion slippers that he keeps tripping over, the mug that sits next to his red mug on the dish rack and the worn out sneakers that is always haphazardly placed and never on the shoe rack. It was the colour blue.  


"Uh...Keith? Buddy? You still there?" He hears Hunk from beside him, his voice laced slightly in confusion.  


"Huh? Oh...sorry," he mutters quietly and passes the jam over to Hunk, who in turn raises an eyebrow in concern.  


"Troubled?" Hunk questions his quiet friend, scooping jam out of the jar and into an empty bowl.  


Keith looks up at him, expression sullen and looking defeated as he sighs lightly. "I don't know. It's just..."he trails off when he notices Hunk grabing a another jar of jam. Looking on in horror when he notices it was _strawberry_ jam, his mind spining when Hunk _actually_ starts mixing the strawberry jam and blueberry jam. "Gaaah," he says and makes a break for it, leaving Hunk to stare at his rapidly retreating back.  


"Huh...the flavour combination is not _that_ bad," Hunk says to one one in particular and goes back to experimenting with a new recipe. 

* * *

  


"-ith...Keith? Mullet man? Keeeeeiiittthhh," Keith is acutely aware of the loud drawl and the hand waving in front of his face, the smell of freshly watered flowers with a hint of mintiness from said person indicated how small the distance between them was. Keith was _very_ aware of it all, but he could not find the courage in himself to simply look up and greet his roommate, the roommate that for some reason is always on his mind.  


"You can't ignore me forever, Keith," Lance pouts and Keith felt like sinking into the couch. "Are you mad?" He asks and Keith looks at him this time, his head snapping up so fast that he felt a little dizzy. Nothing could compare to the sight that behold him though, the sight of a grinning Lance, slightly crooked teeth and all.  


"Made you look," he says like he was suddenly out of breath. Keith's sketch book laid forgotten on his lap, the pencil loose in his grasps.  


He suddenly felt very hyper aware of his surroundings. The kitchen sink dripping droplets of water every few seconds that passed. The honking of cars down the busy street. The soft whispers of the neighbours that lived down the hallway. The shortness of breath he seems to be experiencing. Every small detail of Lance's face from his bright eyes to the slightly noticeble freckles on his cheeks.  


He was absolutely breathtaking. Suddenly what everyone had hinted at him seemed to make sense. His gut twisted violently upon his realization, it was a funny feeling. He didn't trust himself to speak in fear of stuttering, but that didn't stop the heat that creeped up his neck and invaded the tips of his ears. He twists his gaze away from Lance immediately.  


If Lance noticed the blush, he didn't seem to want to comment on it, but the hooded gaze that was sent his way was making Keith wonder weather or not he was still sane. It seemed like Lance was battling with his thoughts as well.  


"Lance?" He calls out, testing his voice. Lance seems to snap out of whatever stupor he was in and back away from Keith, laughing guiltily and avoiding eye contact.  


Keith could only tilt his head in confusion, admiring the way the sunlight that filtered through the window turned the brown of Lance's hair golden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are just getting started.


End file.
